REVIVAL 

SERMONS 

BY 

y 

DAVID T. BLACK, 



MARSHALL, ILL., 



JULY 22D, 1889. 



/ *> rfi py r / Guy? 0$ 

NOV 15 1889; 

\ x 7 & 7a 



ST. LOUTS, MO : 

C. B. WOODWARD COMPANY. 
1889. 



ITSft LIBRARY 
09 CONGRESS 
: 



I WASHINGTON 



,34-7 "R+ 



Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1839, 
By d. t. black, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



DEDICATION; 



This volume is affectionately dedicated to my 
wife and children, and to my co- 
laborers in Christ. 

D. T. Black, 

July 22d, 1889. 



SPECIAL REQUEST. 



The aulhor requests that every one who shall 
read this little book, will, on Christmas night of 
each year, read Sermon, No. 8, subject: "God's 
love for a dying world." 

My object is, if possible, in a very few years, 
to have ten thousand copies of this little book 
scattered abroad in the homes of this land. 

Then think of the inspiration it will give the 
author to remember on Christmas night of the 
thousands who are sitting at their homes reading 
the wonderful story of God's love. 

If you have not the time to read the sermon, 
take up the little book and read the text and re- 
member God's love. 



INTRODUCTION. 



All the world loves a lover. Not that his 
story is new, but it is authentic. Love's tale is 
old enough, yet in every twilight it is told with 
blushes mantling the brow as in the purple dusk 
of Eden. This young author remints in this book 
the unreckoned gold of old truths; and flings it 
far and wide like a herald showering on sinners 
the largess of his King. 

He takes note of the relative value of truth's 
cries, guineas, not groats, pleads vehemently 
with eloquence, not affronted or dismayed. His 
piety is fervent; his motive, lofty; his sym- 
pathy, magnetic. He hammers out his homilies 
at white heat, to the swinging rythm of Metho- 
dist hymns, tears falling on the anvil trembling 
beneath his stroke. Loving his work he is worthy 
of his wage. These words, in articulate speech, 
have moved hundreds into the sunshine of God's 
smile. May the printed page move thousands 
more. 

Robert McIntyre, 



CONTENTS. 



Sermon 1. — Fullness of Christ. — Moving Power. — 
Young Man Lost. — Able fur All Cases. — More 
Power to Move a Heart than a Ship. — Failure of 
Banks. — Gambler Converted. — One Legged Man. — 
Small Capital 13-29 



Sermon 2. — The Serpent. — Look up. — Easy to Serve 
God When All Goes Well.— Father Pleading With 
His Son. — Young Man Bitten on the Finger. — Can- 
cer on the Hand. — Leprosy Certain Death. — Every 
One Must Look for Himself. — Father and Son Each 
Lose an Eye. — Salt or Sugar. — Cures Every Case. — 
Orphan Girl. — Young Man on the Scaffold 30-51 



Sermon 3.— Th3 Mind of Christ.— Paul When a Boy.— 
Dark Hours for the Disciples. — Only one King to 
Help Them. — Funeral Procession. — Church Stand- 
ing Still.— Grumblers Stick to Us.— The Old Col- 
ored Woman. — On to Victory. — Blind Man's 
Prayer. — Young Man Surrenders to God 52-67 



Sermon 4. — A Blind Man Received His Sight.— A 
Dreaded Affliction. — A Glorious Cure. — Waiting 20 
or 30 Years for Morning. — Moving Train. — Starry 
Heavens. — Mother Dying. — Washing in the Pool. — 
The Man Who Sees Finds no Fault.— The Testi- 
mony of Paul, Peter and John. — How to Shake the 
Woild. — The Japanese Convert 68-83 



VI 



CONTENTS 



Sermon 5.— The New Birth.— Christ, the World's 
Great Teacher. — One Step Must be Taken. — One 
Thing Lacking. — Man in Jail. — Six Ciphers on the 
Blackboard. — Experience in a Cave. — Change of 
Heart, Life and Purpose. — The Word Except. — 
Look at It.— What are You Going to do About It?. 8 1-98 



Sermon 6. — The Prodigal Son. — The Young Man was 
too Hasty. — The Age of a Boy When He Knows 
More Than His Father. — Pathetic Story. — Tells His 
Father How to Get Rich.— Good Bye Old Farm.— 
Playing the Millionaire. — Natural Bridge. — Last in 
the Sea 99-113 



Sermon 7. — Reading the Word — Confessing. — Repent- 
ing. — Worshiping God. — Getting Ashamed of Self. 
— Getting Ready to Throw the Hatchet. — The Great 
Victory.— God is Glorified 114-12? 



Sermon 8.— God's Love for a Dying World. — Bible a 
Wonderful Book. — Golden Chain of Promises. — All 
Conditional. — The Sinking Ship. — A Mother's 
Love. — A St. Louis Murderer. — A Great Man Dying 
and What He Said.— Gates Wide Open. — Measuring 
Eternity. — Railroad to Heaven 128-144 



Sermon 9.— On the Road to Pleasure.— City of Nin- 
evah.— Sunburnt Jew.— Paying Your Fare.— Good 
Name and Reputation Gone.— Poor Boy Jumps in 
a River.— The Easiest Road not Always the Best.— 
Home Gone,— The Devil Playing Blindfold.— 
Blood on the Car Window 145-163 



CONTENTS. 



VII 



Sermon 10. — A Continuation of Sermon Nine. — Pro- 
fanity. — Bad Habi s. — Old Man Reeling on the 
Street. — Drawing Establishment. — Slim Chance for 
Heaven. — Devil Fishing. — Cuss Room. — Bad Books. 
— Lost Girl. — Five Young Men for Christ. — Ninety- 
Five for Satan. — Dying Young Man. — Where is He? 
—Sitting Still to Die 164-190 



Sermon 11. — Redemption. — All are Under Condemna- 
tion. — Man Needed to be Redeemed. — Could not be 
Without a Redeemer. — That Redeemer was Fur- 
nished in the Person of Christ. — A Child Learns to 
do Wrong First. — Blazing Out the Way. — Broken 
Watch.— Picture Made New.— Girl Redeemed. .191-204 



Cyclone Lecture. — Newspaper Reporters. — Prayer 
for Rain.— Hat and Dress Hanging on the Branches 
of a Tree. — Fences Leveled. — Churches and Resi- 
dences Gone. — Stories Sad and Humorous. — Cow 
Killed by a Ham of Meat.— Man With One Shoe 
Off. — Praying Under a Freight Car. — Awful Scene 
at the Hospital. — Egyptian Homes. — A Great 
Leison 205-22S 



PREFACE, 



Be Sure to Read the Preface. 

I have been requested by many of my friends 
to publish a series of my revival sermons. I have 
been very reluctant to undertake the work, know- 
ing well that I am not a writer. I am but a 
young man, and feel utterly unable to place a 
book before the public, but after due considera- 
tion and prayerful thought, I have concluded to 
put a few of my revival sermons in print, hoping 
they may strengthen the faith of Christ's follow- 
ers, and help others to find the way of life. God 
has seen proper to bless my weak efforts in re- 
vival work. Many precious souls have found the 
Savior during my brief ministry. The sermons 
appear in print just as they were delivered by the 
writer, who speaks extemporaneously and very 
rapid, hence you will doubtless notice many im- 
perfections, but I am willing such to remain, 
rather than rob the sermons of their life and fire. 



X 



PREFACE. 



I have also placed in this little volume a de- 
scription of the Mt. Vernon, (III.) cyclone, hav- 
ing walked over the scene of destruction soon af- 
ter the storm, I returned to my charge and gave 
a description of this sad disaster, that momen- 
tarily hurried almost a half hundred souls into 
eternity. This lecture is reported verbatim as de- 
livered by the speaker, who spoke without line or 
note. I believe there is something in this lecture 
to cause the reader to pause and reflect. 

Hoping this little book may prove a blessing to 
those who read it, I am, yours for Chris!, 

The Author. 



SERMON I. 



J ext. — For it pleased the Father that in Him should all 
fullness dwell.— Col. i, 19. 



|iipOTHING in this world will move unless 
11111 it has a moving power. I have some- 
times stepped on board the train; it stood per- 
fectly still. I have waited impatiently for a time 
for the train to move, but on looking from the 
window I noticed the moving power had been 
detached. A moment later the locomotive 
came pushing her way back to the car, the 
steam was applied and we were soon bound- 
ing across the prairie at the rate of 45 miles 
an hour. All we needed was the moving 
power ! Sometimes the church is found 
standing still. It can't move without a mov- 
ing power. That power must be found in 
Christ. "For it pleased the Father that in 
Him should all fullness dwell." 

When I endeavor to preach on the fullness 

13 



14 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



of Christ, I feel so much of that fullness of 
the dear, blessed Savior in my own poor 
heart I can scarcely keep from praising God 
aloud for this blessed fullness in Christ Jesus. 

First. Permit me to say that there is a 
fullness of light in Christ for every soul who 
will claim it. More than eighteen hundred 
years ago as Jesus walked among men He 
declared Himself to be the light of the world. 

When a man is lost in darkness how glad 
he is to see a light. A young man who was 
lost in a strange land wandered for hours in 
the darkness of night. The snow was falling 
thick and fast; to wander seemed fatal, to re- 
main meant death. But in the midst of that 
darkness some thoughtful one placed a light 
in the upper window. The moment his eyes 
caught the glimpse of that light he fell upon 
his knees and thanked God. So Jesus looked 
clown from above and saw a whole world 
wandering in darkness — darkness that no 
tongue can describe. There was one broad, 
thick cloud overshadowing the world, and all 
the combined efforts of man could not cause 
one ray of light to penetrate the darkness of 
that cloud. None save God's only son could 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



15 



give light to a darkened world, and with a 
heart that bled for suffering humanity He 
walked out before the human family and 
said : "I am the light of the world." Every 
cloud passed away, the heavens grew bright, 
a dark world was made light, and it seems to 
me to-day if the whole world could be in- 
fluenced to take one look at Jesus the whole 
human family would fall on bended knees and 
offer a prayer of praise and thanks to the 
blessed Lamb of God". "For it pleased the 
Father that in Him should all fullness dwell." 

Again I notice in Christ a great fullness of 
power. The words of the Apostle Paul have 
long ago proved true : The Gospel of Christ 
is the power of God unto salvation to every 
one that believeth. And I think I am safe in 
making the assertion that there is not a civil- 
ized country under heaven but can bring 
forth witnesses to prove the Gospel entirely 
sufficient for their case. Think of the mil- 
lions of professed Christians in the world to- 
da} T ; think of the millions who have gone on 
to meet their reward ; think of the different 
classes they represent — profane men, men 
who have been guilty of Sabbath desecration, 



16 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



drunkards, gamblers, men who were at one 
time in life away down in degradation and 
sin. Some of them really wondered if the 
Gospel was sufficient for their case, but they 
stand up to-day by hundreds and thousands 
and voluntarily declare that they believed and 
Jesus saved. It matters not whether it be a 
Saul of Tarsus or a dying thief, Jesus is am- 
ply able for all cases. He holds the Gospel 
in His hands, wherein lies omnipotent power, 
and there is not a sinner on the face of God's 
earth but may have salvation before the dawn 
of another morning if he will claim the prom- 
ise. ' 'For it pleased the Father that in Him 
should all fullness dwell." 

Men often tell us about the power that 
science has given the world in controlling and 
utilizing its forces ; how water is reduced to 
steam and made to turn the iron wheels of 
machinery, moving trains on the land and 
vessels on the sea, but after all it takes more 
power to move a human heart to God than it 
does to move the mightiest ship across the 
deep. And yet Jesus holds within His own 
divine person a Gospel amply able to save, to 
the uttermost, every son and daughter who 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



17 



walks among men, and will do it if they will 
meet the requirements of God. The Apostle 
felt confident that Christ was able to keep that 
which he had committed unto Him. Jesus 
said: "All power is given Me, both in 
heaven and in earth ; power to lift up human- 
ity, power to save, power to keep." Paul 
believed all this, so he committed his interest 
to Christ, and then emphatically declared 
himself to be perfectly confident that Jesus 
was able to keep all he had committed unto 
Him. Sometimes we deposit a small sum of 
money in the bank for safe keeping, yet how 
often we feel uneasy about it: we read of the 
failure of other banks and wonder if the one 
in which we trust may not also fail, but, thank 
God, no soul need lose any sleep concerning 
Christ's ability 7 to safely keep all we commit 
to Him. The fathers and mothers who have 
stood up for Christ, lo, these many } T ears, look 
up to-day into the Savior's face with as much 
confidence as the Apostle of old, and sa} 7 , we, 
too, are confident that He is able to keep all 
we have committed unto Him. They believe 
in the fulness of Christ's power, and trust 
Him for the blessings of this life and the re- 
wards of the world to come. 



18 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



Some time ago, in the city of Mt. Vernon, 
111., I was conducting a revival meeting; 
night after night the altar was crowded with 
earnest seekers. Among the number there 
was a noted gambler; he prayed, wept and 
asked God to help him. For four nights he 
continued to plead for help. I felt by this 
time that something must be done, or the poor 
man might become discouraged and give up, 
so I knelt by his side and said, my friend, 
there is something in the way; let us see if 
we cannot settle this matter at once. Do you 
feel that you have done your part? Have 
you made a complete surrender to God? 
46 Well," said the poor fellow, as the tears fell 
from his cheeks, "I feel that I must give up 
gambling, and it is the only way I have to 
support my family ; for twenty years I have 
been gambling, in fact I know but little else, 
what must I do?" I said, my friend, listen 
to me. Some years ago a one-legged man 
came to a faith-cure doctor, and said: "I 
want ) t ou to restore my lost limb." "Well," 
said the doctor, "I am able to meet the 
emergency, but you must weigh the matter 
carefully. If I succeed in performing a cure 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 19 

you will, of course, have two legs as you once 
had; then, at the resurrection, God will give 
you the limb you lost, and you will have three 
all through eternity. Now, hadn't you bet- 
ter make a little sacrifice and do with one leg 
a few years longer than to have three to 
bother with all through eternity?" He saw 
the point and said : "I will make the sacrifice 
for the sake of the best possible enjoyment 
hereafter." Now, my friend, you can make 
your own choice — gamble a few years longer, 
then be banished forever from all that is pure 
and good, from Christ and heaven, or make 
the sacrifice — give up your gambling, repent 
of }^our sins, give God your heart, and have 
a home forever with the precious ones in 
glory. What do you say? He waited for a 
moment, then looked toward heaven ; his 
countenance changed, and he exclaimed in 
a loud voice, " I will never, never, gamble 
again, the longest day I live!" And that 
moment arose to his feet and shouted : "Glory 
to God, I am saved!" "For it pleased the 
Father that in Him should all fullness dwell." 

Then I notice in Christ a fullness of interces- 
sion, for, says the Word : "He ever liveth to 



20 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



make intercession for us." And, my brother, 
are you aware of the fact that there is but one 
mediator between God and man — the man, 
Christ Jesus, and, through His far-reaching, 
all-embracing merits, men have been saved 
from the earliest ages to the present times? 
Unconverted man, Jesus still lives and inter- 
cedes for you to-day, and I am here to say, 
by the authority of God, to every unsaved 
soul in this house, that Jesus is ready this very 
night, this very hour, yea, this very moment, 
to intercede in your behalf; and when I see 
a sinner humble himself before God and come 
trembling to the altar of prayer, with all self- 
righteousness laid aside, saying, away down 
in his heart: Thou, blessed Lamb of God, I 
have sinned against Thee; have mercy on me 
for the sake of Thine own dear son — then I say 
that Jesus will intercede ; He will speak to the 
Father concerning your case, and say : Father, 
there is a poor sinner that I died to save, 
pleading for help. Then methinks I see the 
Father reach down and apply the blood of 
His own dear son to that troubled heart, and 
he becomes alive to God. When God cries 
out, he may live ! Jesus says, he may live ! 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



21 



Every attribute of God cries out, in mighty 
tones, he shall live ! Every angel in glory 
declares, he may live ! While Jesus, the 
Lamb of Light, exclaims, saved through the 
blood of Christ ! 6 'For it pleased the Father 
that in Him should all fullness dwell " 

A young man seeking for a certain position 
said : "1 feel sure that success is before me, 
because I have such a good man interceding 
in my behalf, one whose influence is always 
on the side of right, and whose reputation is 
widely known." So, brethren, I am not 
uneasy about my success in the future, if I 
am only faithful to God, for I have one who 
is more. than man interceding for me. He 
who opened the eyes of the blind, caused the 
deaf to hear, the dead to leap into life again, 
fed the five thousand on the loaves and fishes;. 
He whose sufferings darkened the sun, rent 
the vail, split asunder the hills of stone ; He 
who declared to His faithful ones that He 
would never leave nor forsake them, He it is 
that intercedes for us to-day. Glory to His 
name ! I am so glad we have such an one for 
our intercessor. Do you have any doubts 
concerning the broad influence and moral rep- 



22 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



utation of Jesus? Certainly not. Travel the 
world over, and, wherever men are civilized, 
they will tell you about Jesus. Visit North 
and South America, Asia and Africa, China 
and Japan ; journey east and west, north and 
south, on land and by sea, and you will hear 
the millions say, we, too, have heard of Jesus. 
Yes, glory to His name, the world has heard 
of Jesus, and not one nation under the sun 
can bring forth a man who can show any 
ground whatever for casting reflections on the 
character of Jesus Christ. Brethren, I rejoice 
to-day to know that we have such an one to 
intercede for us. Your best friend may fail 
to secure for you the place you desire, but 
Jesus makes no failures. In all His teachings 
that have been reported to us not one failure 
appears, and as long as the world shall stand 
Jesus will be found at the right hand of the 
Father interceding for poor fallen man, with 
full power to save, to the uttermost, all who 
come unto God by Him. "For it pleased the 
Father that in Him should all fullness dwell." 

Then, again, permit me to say that in 
Christ there is a fullness of grace. The Word 
of God declares that there is grace to be 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



23 



found in Christ to comfort and save all who 
will come, while our Savior Himself said, 
when He walked among men: "My grace 
is sufficient for thee," while in the Gospel by 
John we read of Jesus, the only begotten of 
the Father, full of grace and truth. Then he 
adds, the law was given by Moses, but grace 
and truth came by Jesus Christ. Then we 
read in the Acts of the Apostles, that Peter, 
upon one occasion, while preaching in Jeru- 
salem on the subject of eternal life, said : 
"We believe that through the grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved." And 
says he who was once a persecutor of the 
Church: "The grace of our Lord Jesus is 
exceeding abundant." Notice, my friend, a 
fulness of grace coming from one in whom 
all fulness dwells. Nothing narrow or scant) 7 
about Christ's dealings with men. He gives 
grace to the believer in abundance ; He keeps 
on giving until the believer can say, as did 
Paul, where sin abounded, grace doth much 
more abound. So, brother, while it is true 
that sin did abound, it is also true that grace 
may much more abound. 

A writer once said: "The sole cause of 



24 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



so many failures of our business men is due to 
the fact that too many begin with small cap- 
ital, and in a little while they run out;" and 
I have sometimes thought (if you will pardon 
me for the assertion) that some of the Lord's 
children start out with too small capital ; they 
fail to add to their stock, and the result is 
failure. 

My brother, God has all the grace you 
need. He can supply you with capital suffi- 
cient to make you a devoted happy Christian, 
and you ought to be ashamed of yourself run- 
ning around town claiming to be a disciple of 
Jesus and have not got grace enough to keep 
you from talking about your neighbors. You 
can't expect to carry on very extensive busi- 
ness for the Lord on a thimbleful of capital. 
What would you think of a man in this town 
if some wealthy man should say to him, if 
you desire to go into business I will furnish 
you all the capital you need free of charge; 
just say how many thousand you want ! I 
have thousands to spare, and you are welcome 
to all you need ! Well, says- the young man, 
I think about fifteen cents will do me. Don't 
you think he would make things go? Well, 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



25 



the good Lord has been helping men for 
years to get a start in the world, so they may 
prosper in this life, so as to be able after 
awhile to reap their share of Heaven's wealth. 
He offers men all the capital they need to in- 
sure success, and it is wonderful what a small 
amount some men ask for; and what is the 
■ result? Failure, failure, FAILURE, on 
every hand. 

Brethren, there is not an institution in the 
world to-day that stands so much in need of 
capital as the Church of Jesus Christ. The 
grace of God is the capital on which the suc- 
cess of the Church depends. Jesus offers 
oceans of grace. Salvation's stream flows 
like a mighty river from Calvary, and yet 
thousands, no doubt, have scarcely enough to 
know they have any at all, and the devil is 
always following very close after such persons, 
and is liable to get them at any time. May 
God help us to go to the great fountain of di- 
vine truth, trust Christ for a salvation that is 
full and complete, through which we may 
have a right to the tree of life, and be per- 
mitted at last to rise up and walk and live 
with Christ, who is able to gather all nations 



26 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



unto Himself. "For it pleased the Father 
that in Him should all fullness dwell." 

But last of all permit me to say there 
is a fulness of consolation to be found in 
Christ by those who believe on His name, 
that cannot be found anywhere else. We 
know enough about human nature to know 
that man is weak and frail, that his life 
consists of but a few days, and they are full 
of sorrow. Oh ! how dark to the unbeliever 
just ready to step from time into eternity and 
nothing to step on ; no hope, no jo} T ; no 
light, no consolation ! It was said of David 
Hume that when the shades of death were 
drawing their dark curtains close around him, 
a friend whispered and said : " How about the 
future?" to which he exclaimed: "It's all 
dark." So it is with those who obey not the 
Gospel truth. But come, if you will, and go 
with me to yonder prison ; a dark, lonely 
prison it is. Do you see that gray-haired 
man? He has a care-worn look; he has 
been in many a conflict; has suffered at home 
and abroad; five different times he has re- 
ceived the forty stripes, save one. He is now 
bound in chains, far away from friends, away 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



27 



from home and native land ; there is no one 
there to cheer his heart; but listen, please, 
while I speak to him about the future. Paul, 
how do you feel about the hereafter? Why, 
I have no concern, whatever. As far as I 
am concerned, I would as leave go as remain, 
"for to me to live is Christ, to die is gain; 
for I know that if the earthly house of our 
Tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building 
of God; a house not made with hands, eter- 
nal in the heavens." 

Brethren, there is consolation there that all 
the world cannot give, and it originates in 
Christ. "For it pleased the Father that in 
Him should all fullness dwell." 

You may go to that poverty-stricken family, 
who are often overlooked by the world, and 
they are made to rejoice as you tell them of 
Jesus, the Savior of Light. Go to that af- 
flicted mother who is soon to cross the swell- 
ings of the Jordan, and say unto her, I have 
a little while that I may speak to you, during 
which time I will talk to you about some of 
the leading men of our nation, such men as 
George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or 
some of the great warriors who lived long 



28 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



years ago, like Cyrus, Napoleon, or I can 
speak to you of some of the great preachers of 
the past or present; but that mother will look 
you in the face and sa}', there is no consola- 
tion in this for me; please, sir, tell me about 
Jesus. And as you tell her of Christ and His 
love for humanity, how He labored, toiled 
and prayed for the world's salvation, and of 
the blessed promises He has left for us all, 
her heart leaps for joy, and exclaims : Oh ! 
I have such sweet peace in Jesus ! 

The end with me is near at hand, 

But all is clear and bright; 
I shall soon go home to wear the crown, 

And walk in the land of light. 

Now let me say, in conclusion, that there is 
a fulness in Christ for every soul in this house 
to-night, and unless a certain portion of that 
fulness be conveyed to your heart, you will 
die without hope. There is no use of a man 
wasting time trying to get to heaven inde- 
pendent of Christ's help. There are not 
enough men on the face of the earth to suc- 
ceed in getting one single man inside the 
gates of heaven, otherwise than by the power 
of Christ, God has seen proper to provide 



HEVIVAL sermons. 



29 



this way, and all the world cannot change the 
divine plan, unconverted man, if you desire 
the salvation of your own soul ! Profane man, 
if you expect a home in the haven of eternal 
rest, come to Jesus ! 

May God help you all to see that death and 
the judgment are before you. Are }T>u pre- 
pared for the future? If not, won't you come 
to Jesus to-night? Come while God is call- 
ing ; come while the Holy Ghost is pleading ; 
come while Jesus stands with outstretched 
arms, and declares unto you that He is amply 
able to save all who will come. 4 4 For it 
pleased the Father that in Him should all 
fullness dwell." 

While we join in singing "Come to Jesus," 
etc., let the altar be filled. 



SERMON II. 



Text. — "And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery 
serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to 
pass that every one that is bitten, when he looketh 
upon it, shall live." — Num. 21-8. 



HE Israelites, during their long journey, 
were many times made to wonder at the 
mysterious ways in which God manifests him- 
self to man. They had a similar experience 
to that of many to-day. They were some- 
times away up on the mountain top, enjoying 
the sunlight of the presence of God, and I im- 
agine that they felt at times like singing songs 
like we sing to-day : 

"I am drinking at the fountain, 

Where I ever would abide; 
For I've tasted life's pure river, 

And my soul is satisfied. 
There's no thirsting for life's pleasures, 

Nor adorning, rich and gay; 
For I've found a richer treasure, 

One that fadeth not away." 

But after the lapse of a very brief time, 
says the Word, they spoke against God and 

30 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



31 



against Moses; and they said, wherefore have 
you brought us up out of t Egypt to die in the 
wilderness. Well, that is quite a different ex- 
perience indeed ; but following this, I notice 
another marked change ; they turn right 
around and confess unto Moses that they have 
done wrong, and urge him to pray for them. 
It seems that the Israelites were inclined to 
trust God more fully when He would perform 
a miracle in their sight; in fact, there always 
has been, and is to-da} 7 , a disposition to trust 
God just in proportion as men witness the 
manifestation of His power. In a single day, 
after the Israelites had been found praising 
God, and saying He is our God, we will 
serve Him; they are crying out to Moses, 
surely God has brought us up out of the 
wilderness to die. How similar is this to the 
experience of men to-day — they start out to 
live religious — there is not a cloud to hide the 
presence of the Savior's face. How easy it is 
to trust God just at such times, but wait until 
sickness comes to the home, a little bad luck 
of some kind, a failure of crops, loss of money, 
then how often these once happy Christians 
fall back with the Israelites, and wonder why 



32 



BE VITAL SERMONS. 



God would thus torment them. In the case 
before us, God purposes to perform a wonder- 
ful miracle, such as ought to convince every one 
that God is a wonder-working God. Moses, 
their leader, becomes discouraged at their lack 
of faith. He goes to God in prayer, and cries 
unto the Lord, saying, what shall I do unto 
this people? Then God sent the serpents 
which caused the Iraelites to cry for help, and 
it was just like God to help them. After men 
murmur, complain and find fault with God, 
then turn and go to God, they always find 
Him on the giving hand. Some of } 7 ou can 
remember, brethren, when you came far short 
of your duty, allowed sin to enter your heart, 
and to some extent lost the joy of the salva- 
tion, you retraced your steps, accepted the 
way of life, you were once more made happy 
in a Savior's love; so, in the case before us, 
the people cry for help. The next thing, God 
is planning a way for their escape. 4 'He said 
unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set 
it upon a pole ; and it shall come to pass that 
every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon 
it, shall live." 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



33 



Then the heralds ran through the encamp- 
ment of two millions of souls, proclaiming to 
the suffering thousands that not one of them 
need die. God has prepared a remedy. Look 
yonder ! Do you see that brazen serpent on 
the pole? Come here and get a good look, 
and remember, the moment you look you are 
a saved man. Hundreds upon hundreds 
gathered around the serpent, and as they 
looked they were healed. But the saddest 
thought to me is, that perhaps there were hun- 
dreds who would not look. I see a father 
pleading with his boy, for God's sake look to 
the serpent ! His hands are turning black, 
his feet are swollen, his face bears the marks 
of poison, but he will not look. I see an- 
other with straining eyes pleading with her 
daughter to look to the serpent, but the 
daughter replies, I have no faith in a cure. 
Then I see multitudes gather around the bit- 
ten ones, and say we were bitten as bad as you 
were, and don't you see we have been cured? 
We looked, and God's word proved true. 
Then I hear the father cry out more earn- 
estly, oh ! my son, do look to the serpent ! 
But the answer comes, I will risk my case 



34 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



with the rest, and one by one they sink down 
and die. 

Permit me to say, in the first place, that the 
serpent had a very important meaning con- 
cealed in it. It was a type, or at least a 
sign, of the salvation which a sinner obtains 
by looking to Jesus, the Savior of sinners. 
The soul is bitten by the serpent of sin, and if 
not cured, must perish forever; hence, Jesus 
takes up the same thought which is recorded 
in the Gospel by John, as Moses lifted up the 
serpent in the wilderness. Even so must the 
son of man be lifted up, 4 4 that whosoever be- 
lieveth in Him should not perish, but have 
eternal life." 

The command, three thousand 3^ears ago, 
was for the human family to look up ; it is 
just the same to-day. Jesus is calling men to 
look heavenward for salvation, even as Moses 
stood before two millions of suffering, perish- 
ing souls, and declared that life should be 
given for a look. So Jesus, centuries later, 
stood before a world of suffering, perishing 
human beings and said, "look to me and live," 
for in me ye find eternal life. As Moses 
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



35 



must the son of man be lifted up," that who- 
soever believeth in Him should not perish, 
but have eternal life." I notice in the next 
place while some were bitten more severely 
than others, they all had to look ; and those 
who regarded their affliction the least serious, 
were perhaps numbered among the lost. , I 
can see in my imagination a young man bitten 
on the tip end of his finger. His friends ad- 
vise him to look to the serpent, but he laughs 
at the idea of looking to the brazen serpent 
for a bite no more serious than his seems to 
be. He says, I have suffered affliction far 
greater than this, and never ceased my labors. 
I am no child, I am a young man of back 
bone; I have grit — if I never die until my 
death is caused by a bite like this, we will 
have placed on record after a while the name 
of one man who lived longer than Methusa- 
lem. But he wakes up the next morning 
poisoned from head to foot, and dies in great 
agony, and I think I am safe in saying that 
his case may well represent the condition of 
hundreds of others, who like him were re- 
jecting the remedy. And I have sometimes 
thought it might be possible that in some 



36 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



communities to-day we have a society of 
young people who are well behaved, moral 
and intelligent ; they attend the preaching of 
the Word — are usually found in the Sunday 
School, and they wonder why we prevail on 
them to do any thing more. If there are those 
here to-day who may be numbered with this 
class, I want to tell you that you, too, must 
look to Jesus. Nothing under heaven will 
answer as a substitute. You may look to the 
church or to your friends, but all in vain — you 
must look to Jesus ! I do not deny for one 
moment that you are moral, well behaved and 
apparently in good health, yet every one of 
you has been bitten by the serpent, sin, and 
while you may think the disease not serious, 
it means death, sooner or later. I well re- 
member a certain woman, who one day no- 
ticed a little inflammed spot on the back of 
her hand. She felt but little pain and could 
see no reason to be uneasy, concerning an 
affliction no more serious than hers seemed to 
be, and it was not until after months had 
passed by that the doctor informed her that it 
was a cancer, and meant death. She could 
scarcely believe the statement of her own 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



37 



family physician, but day by day the cancer 
kept doing its fatal work. The doctor ad- 
vised the amputation of her arm. The 
operation was performed, but alas ! too late ! 
the whole system was diseased, and she died 
a few months later in great agony. That 
may well represent the fatality of sin, although 
you may not be aware of the fact, but if not 
cured, it means death to you. 

Our Savior has seen proper to inform us in 
His Word something concerning the disease 
of leprosy, it is set forth as a type of sin. No 
human skill can effect a cure. If you could 
go to Jerusalem to-day and go back to a cer- 
tain street, you would find scores of people 
yet tormented by this dreadful disease. You 
could see mothers with fingers all eaten off, 
and even their nose and ears and parts of their 
face gone, yet they were holding in their arms 
bright-eyed babes. You could see no mark 
of disease on those children, but remember, 
the disease was there, and at the age of eight 
or ten will begin its fatal work on those little 
ones so white and fair. The disease is born 
in them, and, sooner or later, will most as- 
suredly do its fatal work, so with sin, it is in 



38 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



the heart. We are born in sin — it becomes 
as it were a part of our very nature, and if 
you should live to be a hundred years of age, 
you will be a sinner, unless you look to Jesus. 
So let me say to you young people to-day, 
that it matters not how slight the disease of sin 
may seem in your case, it means death, sooner 
or later, unless you look to Jesus. You re- 
member on one occasion while Jesus was in 
eastern Judea, that some of those who had 
been present when Pilate mingled the blood of 
the Galileeans on the altar. When Jesus 
turned and said : "suppose ye that these Gali- 
leeans were sinners above all other Galileeans? 
I tell you, nay, but except ye repent, ye shall 
all likewise perish." Then referring to the 
eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, 
He said: 4 'Think } 7 e that they were sinners 
above all men? I tell you, nay, but except 
ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. " And 
to make it plainer still, He exclaims upon an- 
other occasion. "This is the condemnation 
that light is come into the world, and men 
loved darkness rather than light, because their 
deeds were evil." Then the way for a man 
to decide whether he is under condemnation 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



39 



or not, is to decide whether he has accepted 
Christ as his Savior; that is the testing point. 
I don't care how moral you are, how intelli- 
gent you may be, you may be so full of 
rhetoric, that it is frothing out of your ears 
and mouth. You may be able to solve 
problems that others cannot, but that is not 
the question. I want to know if you have 
accepted Christ as your Savior. If not, allow 
me to hold God's Word up before you, and 
press His truths upon your heart, and tell you 
by the authority of God that you must look to 
Jesus. A man under water one foot will 
drown just as quick as the man that is buried 
ten feet deep. It is not a question when a 
man is drowning how deep is he under the 
water, but is he drowning? So I am not ask- 
ing you to-day if you are buried deep in 
degradation and sin, but have you accepted 
the way of life? If not, you are under the 
dark cloud of condemnation ! For, says the 
Word : "This is the condemnation that light 
is come into the world, and men love dark- 
ness rather than light." 

I notice in the next place that no man had 
any right to employ a substitute. God ex- 



40 REVIVAL SERMONS. 

pected every man to look for himself. There 
were doubtless fathers and mothers among 
the Israelites who would willingly have looked 
for their children, but all in vain. The 
remedy was only provided for those who would 
look for themselves, and I have no doubt in 
my mind to-day but there are fathers and 
mothers who would gladly look to Jesus for 
their children. Yes, they would walk out in 
the darkness of night and kneel in the snow, 
and look to Jesus all the long night, if such 
would answer for their children ; but this will 
not suffice. God holds every man responsible 
to look to Jesus for his own salvation. I have 
sometimes thought there might be a little dan- 
ger along this line with some of the young 
people whose parents are religious. They 
know that their parents are anxious for them. 
They are often made subjects of prayer by 
anxious ones in the community, and they 
sometimes think there are so many anxious 
about us, and praying for us, that we will cer- 
tainly be saved ; but let me say just here, that 
the men who depend on others to do their 
work will most likely find it undone ; and the 
man to-day who trusts his soul's salvation to 



Revival sermons. 



41 



the care of others, will most assuredly find out 
to his sorrow, in the great day of accounts, that 
his soul's salvation has been overlooked. I 
have heard of cases where a man has been 
drafted to go to the war, when some one 
would volunteer to go in his stead. And you 
remember a certain king who made a law, 
the violation of which meant the loss of both 
eyes, but, to his sorrow, his own son was first 
to violate the law of the king. Not willing 
that his law should be valueless, and not hav- 
ing the heart to endure its execution on his 
own son, he compromised by sacrificing one 
of his own eyes and one of his son's. But 
when it comes to this great question concern- 
ing 3'our soul's salvation, none can pay the 
price for you. The father cannot say to the 
son, I will go in your stead; or, I will bear a 
part of your suffering in the hereafter. No 
one save you and God can settle this matter 
concerning the hereafter. Jesus has done the 
suffering. He has paid the penalty of a 
broken law, and all the demand he makes of 
you is to look to Jesus. And you will look 
or die without one glimmering ray of hope 
beyond the tomb. I urge you every one to- 



42 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



day to go and deal personally with Christ 
about your own soul's salvation. Go as a 
poor sinner, take your place at the foot of the 
cross, strip yourself of all }'our self-righteous- 
ness, receive Him as your own personal Sav- 
ior, and let the precious blood of the Son of 
God be applied to your soul, without which 
no man can see God. Don't depend upon 
any man under heaven to setttle this matter 
for you, but look to Jesus for yourself. 

Then again I have thought that man) 7 of 
the suffering Israelites made excuses and said, 
"What's the use? I cannot have the faith to 
look. There is certainly no effacy in that 
serpent; why don't Moses come with some 
medicines recommended by the physicians to 
counteract the poison?" Aye, my friend, the 
effacy was not in the serpent but in obeying 
God, and are you aware of the fact that some 
of the greatest miracles have been wrought, 
the most wonderful events taken place through 
simple obedience to God. It was a matter of 
small note for Moses to stretch his hand over 
the sea, but the power of God was in that 
simple act of obedience, and the sea rolled up 
like mountain walls as never before. It was 



BEVIVAL SERMONS. 



43 



a small matter for Moses to smite the rock, 
but it was God who said to Moses, "Smite the 
the rock!" And the water came bursting 
forth from that sunburnt rock in the mountain 
side, and more than a million perishing souls 
were made to live. Most any one could have 
taken Joshua's place and marched around 
Jericho, but God had said by that simple act 
the city must fall. That was a very simple 
prayer of Elijah, but by the time God gets 
through answering that prayer the heavens 
are opened, fire descends, the altar is con- 
sumed, and off goes Elijah sweeping home to 
glory. Now, notice, Moses might have said : 
What good will it do to smite the rock, Joshua 
to go around the city, Elijah to offer that 
prayer, so it may be to-day as your minister 
stands before you and urges upon 3-011 with 
all the power possible to look to Jesus and be 
saved. Some of you are saying, I don't see 
how that can make any difference, but I want 
you to remember that Moses couldn't see 
either what good it would do to smite the 
rock, until he tried it. Joshua could not see 
the result of marching around Jericho, until 
after the marching took place. Elijah 



44 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



coulan't see the result of his prayer } until af- 
ter the prayer had been offered. The first 
thing is to obey God, the second thing look 
for the result. It was those who looked up 
at the serpent who could speak most positive 
of the effect. The best way to get the effect 
of morphine is to take the morphine ; the best 
way to ascertain the taste of an orange is to 
taste the orange. My friends, never condemn 
a remedy until you try it. Jesus offers a rem- 
edy for every diseased heart. Don't go off 
and condemn the remedy but try it! try it ! 
TRY IT ! If I hold in my hand a small 
lump of sugar, and call upon this congregation 
to tell me what I hold in my hand, every man 
in the congregation, save one, says it is salt, 
and the remaining one comes forward, takes 
the lump from my hand and tastes of it, and 
the moment he gets the taste, he says, I know 
its sugar. Who will you believe? The man 
who made the proper test, of course. Now, 
sir, I am speaking to-day of something that I 
know something about. I have tried the 
remedy. I have tasted of the way of life, 
and I know when I looked to Jesus he saved 
me. I speak the sentiments of thousands of 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



45 



others who have, in like manner, tasted the 
remedy. Will 3^011 believe us? Or take the 
testimony of that man who never for one mo- 
ment met the requirements of God. I tell 
you, it is true, every one who looks may live ! 

Again, I notice the sinner is often heard to 
sav : 44 I would like to become a Christian, but 
somehow I can't get to the point where I can 
trust Jesus." Yes, that is what you say, but 
isn't exactly what you mean. I spent four 
years of my life in a grocery store. We 
were instructed by the proprietor when a 
customer entered the door, if we were at lib- 
erty, to meet him at once, and inquire what 
we could do for him. Occasionally a man 
would push his way on past me, as much as 
to say : "You are not the man I want to wait 
on me." At first I felt somewhat humiliated to 
think he held others in preference. But in a few 
months, by proper observation, I understood 
more about the nature of such cases. These 
men wanted to see the proprietor, and they 
would often watch for a whole hour for the 
most favorable opportunity to confer with 
him, and then would give him a wink, and 
beckon him to one side. Brethren, do you 



46 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



know what that means? Yes, I see one 
man laugh. He knows. He has been in 
business himself. Well, I will tell you what 
it means. That man means by that motion 
and wink that he wanted to pay for a 
few dollars' worth of groceries some time in 
the future, but would like to take the goods 
that same day ; and time and again I have 
heard the proprietor say: "I can't trust 
you." Now, that is what he said, but it is 
not exactly what he meant. That was only 
a soft way of putting it. He really meant, 
"I don't want to trust you." In other words, 
"1 am not going to do it." You see, he could 
have trusted him; he knew how he had the 
goods in the house; he knew how to tie them 
up and charge the same on the books, but he 
didn't feel disposed to trust him. So we have 
a good many men in this world that are very 
anxious to become religious, so the) 7 say, but 
they must have some excuse, so they say : 
"We can't trust Jesus." Why don't you 
act the man and say: "We are not going to 
do it!" What you need is the will-power. 
There is not a man in this house to-day but 
can trust Jesus, if he will. I lay my watch on 



KEVIVAL SERMONS. 



47 



this table and say to a )/ T oungman : "Tell me 
whether that watch is gold or silver from its 
appearance." The young man stands and 
looks straight up, and says : "1 can't see." 
I point down to the table, and he closes his 
eyes and says: "I can't see." Of course he 
can't, because he is not willing to look. So 
it is with men who cannot see how to trust 
Jesus. They look at the world; look at every- 
thing else in preference to Jesus. He has his 
eyes blinded with sin. He looks down when 
Jesus says look up; and then declares he 
can't see how to trust Jesus. But there is a 
reason why he can't. He is not willing to 
comply with the law of salvation, and be- 
cause he will not, of course he cannot properly 
trust Jesus; that's the point. If you will 
come and accept salvation on Bible terms you 
will find no serious trouble in the way of 
trusting. You want to do the trusting, and 
yet you are not willing to do the obeying. In 
other words, you want the effect of the 
remedy without trying the remedy; hence, 
we must sum up the whole matter by saying 
that God never commanded a man to trust 
Jesus, or look to His own dear Son. Who 



48 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



is not able to obey if he will? God help you 
to look to Jesus, 

But I notice, in conclusion, that it did come 
to pass that every one who looked was made 
to live. God's treatment may often seem 
strange to the world; but after all, when the 
patient goes according to directions, He never 
fails to effect a cure, and the great wonder to 
me is that there should have been one soul 
in all that great number of Israelites who 
could refuse to look. They had everything 
to encourage them to look. Their neighbors 
were looking, and being cured, their friends 
all around them; looked and were healed, 
and while the remedy may have seemed a 
strange one and hard to understand, never- 
theless they could see that divine power was 
at work. If these same Israelites had been suf- 
fering for water and found a beautiful spring, 
with clear, cool water flowing down the moun- 
tain side, do ) t ou suppose they would have re- 
fused to drink, because they could not under- 
stand where the water came from, or how it 
was kept running all through the years? No; 
it would have been sufficient for them to 
know that the cool water was just what they 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



49 



needed to satisfy thirst. They would have 
had no time to waste in trying to understand 
how God could keep that pure stream run- 
ning year after year; and the great wonder is 
to me, when men in every community will 
speak of their once lost condition and tell how 
wonderfully Jesus saved them, that others 
will not turn and accept the remedy rather 
than seek for the philosophy of the cure. It's 
enough for us to know that God does cure, 
and that he cures every case; and, for my 
part, I am for the physician that cures every 
case, even though his mode of treatment be 
somewhat peculiar, and though he differs 
from all other physicians, it matters not; the 
question is : " Does he cure?" So let me say to 
the unsaved, had you power to converse with 
the saved of this world to-day, they would all 
tell you that they were saved by looking to Je- 
sus. If you could stand face to face and con- 
verse with the angels in heaven as to what mode 
they adopted to reach their present condition, 
they would answer without a dissenting voice : 
"We looked to Jesus." And if there is a wan- 
dering boy here to-day, away from father and 
mother, may I ask you, though you are here 



50 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



among strangers, to look to Jesus? If there 
is a poor orphan girl, left homeless and moth- 
erless, to battle her way through the years 
amidst the conflicts of life, and though you 
have no earthly home, remember that you 
may have a home that is fairer than day, if 
you will only look to Jesus. If you fail in 
everything else, don't fail to look to Jesus. 

Some years ago a young man was to be put 
to death for crime committed. The day was 
fixed, the hour arrived. His father had been 
delayed in reaching the town until the hour of 
execution. They informed the old gentleman 
when he reached the depot that nothing more 
could be done. The ablest talent had inter- 
ceded in behalf of his boy. Every possible 
effort had been put forth to save him, but he 
must pay the penalty of the law, and as the 
young man was then upon the scaffold, they 
plead for the old man, as he could do his son 
no good, just to remain where he was until 
after the execution, but all this time the old 
man kept pushing his way toward the jail, 
when he came in sight of his boy the black 
cap was drawn over his face, the rope was 
around his neck, another moment and he 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



51 



must swing into eternity. The father cried 
in a loud voice, son, look to Jesus ! Look to 
Jesus ! That moment his boy was gone. 
Well, the old man knew that he could not 
save his boy from death. There was but one 
thing he could do, and that was to urge his 
boy to trust Christ for the hereafter ; so I bring 
my sermon to a close to-day by urging you 
every one, for the sake of your own soul's sal- 
vation, for the sake of Jesus who died to save 
you, look up and live ! 



SERMON III. 



Text. — Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ 
Jesus. — Phil, ii, 5. 



plfOMETHING over eighteen hundred 
illi years ago, a small boy might have been 
seen far over the mighty deep at Tarsus, 
working at the trade of a tent-maker. He 
was at that time a very ordinary looking boy. 
But the custom of the time was to educate 
the boys ; so the boy was sent to Jerusalem to 
be educated. He continued his course of 
study until he ranked among the leading 
scholars of the time. But he, like some oth- 
er young men, became prejudiced against the 
Gospel of Christ \ so much so that he breathed 
out threatenings and slaughter against them. 
He goes up to the king and gets his consent to 
go to Damascus and bring the disciples bound 
to Jerusalem . He called up a company of sol- 
diers and starts for Damascus, and permit me 

52 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



53 



to say, that that was a critical time for the lit- 
tle handful of Christians at Jerusalem, Da- 
mascus and other points. They were weak 
in numbers, all the kings and rulers and men 
of authority were standing firm against them. 
There was only one ruler who had promised 
to help them, and He was sitting upon His 
throne above. He had promised to be with 
them, even unto the end ; and as He looks 
down on that young man leading that army 
of armed men, and seeing his ambition to ac- 
complish whatever he undertook, He felt 
the best thing to do was to send the con- 
verting power, and turn his heart and mind 
and his influence for God. In a very short 
time a great light appeared unto them, far 
exceeding the brightness of the sun at noon- 
day. This man fell prostrate upon the ground ; 
he cried unto the Lord : "O Lord, what wilt 
Thou have me to do?" A messenger was 
sent to lay his hands upon his head, and to 
tell him what a great work he must do for 
God, how much he must suffer for Christ. 
His eyes were opened for the first time to be- 
hold the brightness of the Father's glory. 
He went up to Damascus and stood before 



54 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



the same men he expected to take, bound to 
Jerusalem, and told them of Jesus; not only 
did he tell them of Jesus, but he preached 
that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and 
proved it with such demonstrative evidence 
that the Jews were unable to deny his doc- 
trines. A few days before he was known as 
Saul, the persecutor, but now the great 
Apostle of Jesus Christ. And when he is 
beaten with many stripes, bound in chains 
and imprisoned, he sits down and writes to 
the church and says : 6 6 My heart's desire and 
prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be 
saved." Then he seems to think the church 
may get discouraged on the account of His 
sufferings, so he exclaims: U I would ye 
should understand, brethren, that the things 
which happened unto me have fallen out 
rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel ; so 
that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the 
palace, and in all other places" That is, 
brethren, seeing how I can bear so much for 
Christ, they are much more bold to speak the 
word without fear. Then he pens down the 
words of the text : "Let this mind be in you, 
which was also in Christ Jesus." 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



55 



Hence, we notice, all genuine religion is 
connected with Christ. He revealed its doc- 
trines, its principles, and enforced its spirit 
upon the world, and as the inspired writer 
was addressing the disciples of Christ, let me 
speak to the church for a little while to-day 
concerning the mind of Christ. 

For spiritual knowledge, He knew that all 
things relative to his spiritual light was given 
him of the Father, hence He taught us when 
we pray to say: "Our Father which art in 
heaven." He prayed to the Father, so must 
we. The world kept constantly watching to 
detect imperfections in his life, and its no less 
the case to-day with all his followers, and its 
only by having this mind of Christ that we 
are able to succeed in this work. 

I notice, in the first place, that a Christian is 
one who has the mind of Christ. Christ had 
a. mind of pure fervent devotion. His whole 
earthly career was distinguished for this. He 
spent whole nights in prayer. Just the night 
before he preached that wonderful sermon on 
the Mount, He spent the night in close com- 
munion with the Father. In all His miracles 
and discourses He looked up to the Father 



56 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



and prayed for his divine counsel. When 
He met that funeral procession coming 
through the center of Palestine, He bid them 
halt, and lifted His eyes to the Father. 

When Mary fell at his feet weeping and 
said: "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my 
brother had not died." 

When the multitude followed all day, and 
were tired and hungry, He bid them sit down, 
and with two small fishes and five loaves the 
multitude were fed, and many baskets were 
left. Thus everything He engaged in was rel- 
ative to the relief of mankind. He went to the 
Father; and now the apostle sa} T s : 6 6 Let this 
mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus." 

Brethren, have we the mind of Christ this 
morning? Do we feel that all the great 
blessings, both temporal and spiritual, are 
given us of the Father through the Lord Jesus 
Christ? "Let this mind be in you which was 
in Christ Jesus." I tell you the church will 
never rise to shine forth as a shining light 
unto the world until we become so devoted to 
God and his spiritual kingdom that the text 
maybe exemplified: "Let this mind be in 
you which was in Christ Jesus." 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



57 



Its a glorious thing to see the world com- 
ing up to the cause of Christ, but a pitiful 
scene to see a church going back to the world. 
And whenever a church is established it is 
sure to elevate the world, or the world will 
lower the church. It is just as impossible for 
the church to stand still as it is for the sun to 
shine and give no light, or for the Mississippi 
to run up stream. A man starts up a ladder 
one step, he either goes up or down. The 
church must go up or down, advance or de- 
cline. If a church declines, it is not because 
God wills it so, but because there is not 
enough earnest devotion on our part. Jesus 
said unto his disciples : Ye are the light of the 
world." "Ye are the salt of the earth; but 
if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall 
it be salted? it is thenceforth good for noth- 
ing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden un- 
der foot of men." The lesson is this: the 
salt has a saving element, but valueless with- 
out the saving quality, henceforth good for 
nothing. Now, what is the religion of the 
Lord Jesus Christ worth if it has lost its sav- 
ing power. Its the saving power that makes 
it valuable. Rob the State of Illinois of all 



58 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



religious influences, and I would not give you 
fifteen cents for the best farm in our State as 
a home for my family. You sometimes hear 
men persecute the church. They wish every 
church could be converted into a warehouse, 
z. they claim they do. But why don't 
they gather up their goods and journey to 
foreign fields where church organizations are 
not known, where the story of the cross is not 
heard, where the name of Jesus has never 
been proclaimed. Yes, why don't they? Be- 
cause they do not want to live there, that 
is the reason. You couldn't get one of these 
chronic grumblers to go if you would pay his 
way and buy him a home. I doubt very 
much if you could drive him off with blood- 
hounds. No, they are like the old colored 
woman, who said she had her stakes sot to go 
to heaven, and she is going to keep them sot. 
So with many of the fault-finders of to-day 
they have their stakes set to find fault with 
the church, and it really does seem that they 
are going to keep them set, and yet you will 
alwa} 7 s find such men settling near a church. 

Brethren, every thoughtful man knows the 
church is the life of a community. We look 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



59 



to the church for everything that is good. If 
we want to spread Christian holiness, we ex- 
pect the church to do the work. If we want 
to enforce the great cause of temperance, we 
look to the church. Is that man sick in the 
community who dislikes the church? Watch 
him, and see if he sends to the outside world 
for a man to pray for him. No, he looks to 
the church. Do we wantthe Sabbath observed? 
If so, we must look to the church. Do we 
want our boys warned against the card-table, 
dram-shops and other places of vice, we must 
look to the church. If we want to find an 
organization that has all the elements of re- 
form, we have it in the church of Christ. No 
wonder our Savior said : ,6 Ye are the light of 
the world." No wonder the apostle Paul, 
after looking forward and comprehending 
something of the nature and importance of 
Christian work, and seeing that everything 
relative to the success of the Gospel and the 
upbuilding of Christ's kingdom, centered in 
Christ and His followers, said: "Let this 
mind be in you which was also in Christ 
Jesus." No other mind will answer. You 
might read after the greatest preachers whose 



60 



BETIVAL SERMONS. 



names appear on the pages of histor} 7 , until 
you could enter into their spirit of work, be- 
come, as it were, infatuated with them, until 
it could be said you had a mind similar to 
theirs; but this will not suffice; it must be 
the mind of Christ in you ; that is to say, your 
mind and Christ's mind are to be in perfect 
harmony, so much so that when you look to 
God the Father you can say, like Christ : 
"My meat is to do the will of Him that sent 
me, and to finish His work." This mind of 
Christ in a child of God enables him to feel 
that, although ' ' it doth not yet appear what 
we shall be ; but we know that when He shall 
appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see 
Him as He is." 

Thus the soul, yea, the whole being of a 
believer, is made to rise up through the clouds 
and mists of this life to view the sunshine of 
the world beyond, going on from battle to 
battle, conflict to conflict, victory to victory, 
glory to glory, until he no longer looks 
through a glass darkly, but stands face to 
face with the Savior of Light. Brethren, 
"Let this mind be in } 7 ou which was also in 
Christ Jesus." 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



61 



I notice again, that Jesus had a mind of con- 
stant activity. He was completely wrapped, 
as it were, in the work of the Father. Even 
at the age of twelve years he said : 4 4 Wist ye 
not that I must be about my Father's bus- 
iness?" He was completely consecrated to 
the work for which He was sent. When He 
walked through the fields of living green, and 
met the shepherds who were herding their 
flocks, He said unto them: U I am the Good 
Shepherd ; followme." And as Heviewed the 
fields already ripening for the harvest, He 
told the reapers that the spiritual harvest was 
already ripe, and urged them to pray to the 
Father to send laborers into the field. He 
walked over the roughest roads and the 
steepest hills, and endured the greatest suffer- 
ings and exposure, that He might bring us to 
God. All this he endured until the end came. 
So, brethren, we want so much of this mind 
of Christ that we will be found constantly en- 
gaged in the Master's work, enduring trials 
and afflictions, if need be, to cany on to com- 
pletion the great work of God. I remember 
a few years ago, during a camp meeting, a 
blind man prayed that he might be able to do 



62 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



more for Christ and His church. I said to 
myself: 66 If this poor blind man is still anxious 
to find something to do, how much more 
should we who are blessed with sight." Not- 
withstanding the fact that this poor man was 
sorely afflicted, and the world all dark, yet, 
bless God, he still had a mind of Christian 
activity. He found joy in serving the Lord. 
Oh, how the church to-day needs this con- 
stant energy and continued activity. There 
are so many who only endure for awhile, but 
the promise is to those who endure even unto 
the end. Nothing but the mind of Christ 
can qualify you for this continued work. The 
apostle well knew this, so he kept constantly 
filled with the mind and spirit of Jesus, that it 
did not matter what kind of a struggle he was 
called to pass through, he still kept on doing 
the Master's work, rejoicing every day. 
"Forgetting those things which are behind, 
and reaching forth unto those things which 
are before, I press toward the mark for the 
prize of the high calling of God in Christ 
Jesus." That is to say, brethren, the apostle 
did not allow any obstacle whatever to keep 
him from pressing forward to the mark. He 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



63 



proposed to forget them to that extent as not 
to allow them to interfere with the success of 
the Master's work. Allow me to remark, in 
the next place, that our Savior had a sj r mpa- 
thetic mind. I doubt very much if He ever 
looked upon one soul without being anxious 
about his future welfare. He felt a great in- 
terest in the welfare of the human family. 
His words, His teaching, His suffering, His 
walk among men, all goes to prove His anxi- 
ety for perishing souls. Upon one occasion, 
as He looked out upon the vast multitudes be- 
fore Him, He declared it was not the will of 
His Father that one of them should perish, 
and when He journeyed to Jerusalem and 
faced its teeming population, He seemed to 
bow His head in sorrow for a moment, then, 
in the tenderest words, He cried out: u O, 
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the 
prophets, and stonest them which are sent 
unto thee, how often would I have gathered 
thy children together, even as a hen gathereth 
her chickens under her wings, and ye would 
not." Such was the mind of our Savior; so 
completely resigned to His Father's work that 
He was ready at all times and under all circum- 



64 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



stances to manifest an interest in the salva- 
tion of those He came to save. Even during 
His extreme suffering in the garden, when 
the cup of sorrow became so great that it 
seemed for a moment more than he could 
endure, He prayed : if it were possible, let this 
cup pass from me; but as He looked heaven- 
ward He seemed to see the Father shake His 
head, then He adds: "Not my will, but 
Thine be clone." 

And during his extreme suffering on the 
cross, while undergoing torture that no tongue 
can describe, He still kept in the spirit of the 
Father, and prayed that even those who were 
rejoicing in His sufferings might be forgiven. 
And while the earth was wrapped in sorrow 
and the mantle of darkness hung above, He 
could still be heard saying: "Father, forgive 
them," until at last he exclaimed : "It is fin- 
ished." Yes, His suffering was over, His 
work complete, the table of salvation spread 
before the world, and if I had the power to- 
day to make the nations of the earth hear me, 
I would take my place on some high moun- 
tain top and point to the suffering Savior, 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



65 



and say unto them : "Let this mind be in 
you which was also in Christ Jesus." 

May God give us so much of this mind that 
was in Christ that we will be able to see that 
whatever is God's interest is ours, and that 
whatever work Christ was willing to do for 
the future interests of man, we ought to be 
willing to do for the future interests of our- 
selves. We want a mind that will enable us 
to run with patience the race which is set be- 
fore us, that we ma)/ at last gain an abundant 
entrance into that upper and better kingdom. 
But, last of all, let me say, we should have a 
submissive mind, /. there ought to be a will- 
ingness on our part to submit all things to 
God, I like that word — submission. It is a 
word that ought to live in the heart of every 
disciple of Jesus; yea, more than that, of all 
who walk the earth. Do you understand 
what I mean? Let me illustrate my point. 
I read some time ago of a certain young man 
who was attending a revival meeting; he was 
much affected, and was under conviction. A 
minister made a very affecting appeal for sin- 
ners to come to Jesus. This young man 



66 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



arose and started to leave the church. The 
minister hurried down the aisle and said : 
"Look here ! Dont you know you are doing 
wrong? God is calling you this night to re- 
pent of your sins ! I want to know now if 
you, right in the face of all this pleading and 
all these invitations, are going to persist in 
hardening your heart against God ?' ' He hung 
his head for a moment, when the minister 
added : "Will you not go with me to the altar 
right now?" A few seconds passed and he 
said : "I will." He went forward and took a 
front seat, then after a moment he arose to 
his feet and said : "My friends, I have been im- 
pressed for quite a while that I ought to be- 
come a Christian , I have gone from the church 
more than once, rather than surrender, but I 
will never do it again. This moment I sur- 
render to God." He fell upon his knees and 
cried: "Lord, I surrender!" The struggle 
was over in a moment. His eyes sparkled, 
his face grew bright. He was saved, and 
knew it. That is what I call submission. 
He submitted his case to God. And now, in 
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I urge you, 
every one, to give yourselves unreservedly 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



67 



to God. u Heaven and earth shall pass away ; 
but my words shall not pass away." May 
the Lord help you to throw yourself full length 
on the word of God. Remember the text: 
6 4 Let this mind be in you which was also in 
Christ Jesus." 



SERMON IV. 



Text. — "One thing I know, that, whereas, I was blind, 
now I see." — John ix, 25. 



E have in this chapter a statement con- 
cerning a blind man. I know of no 
affliction more to be dreaded than to be de- 
prived of sight. I have seen the invalid in 
his movable chair going up one street and 
down another, unable to take a single step, 
but yet he can see the world and look with in- 
terest at the multitudes as they are passing by. 
I have met the deaf man ; he could not hear 
one word that I said, but he could talk to me 
and I could write the answers to his ques- 
tions. Very true, he was sorely afflicted, 
but could see as much of the world as myself. 
But think of a man born blind, never for one 
moment to be permitted to see the sunlight of a 
single day, never to have the pleasure of seeing 
the face of father or mother. He can form but 

68 




REVIVAL SERMONS. 



69 



a faint idea of how the world looks. If I talk 
to you concerning the nations away from home 
and explain the appearance of the country, 
you can form some idea of that country by 
looking at our own country ; but here is a 
poor man who never saw any country, con- 
sequently he has but a faint idea of how the 
world looks. Think of a man retiring at 
night, then waiting twenty, thirty, forty 
years for morning to come, but during all 
these years there is not one ray of light; he 
lives in the midst of darkness and blackness ; 
but this case may be considered still worse, 
for this man was born blind. All he knew 
was darkness. You might point to the stars 
above and say : u Do you see the heavens, all 
studded with worlds of light?" Point to the 
sun that throws his ample rays of light across 
the pathway of the world's millions, and say : 
"Isn't that beautiful?" But this poor man 
exclaims: " It is all dark with me." Point 
to the moss-covered hills across the way, or 
the broad prairies carpeted with living green, 
and say : "Isn't this beautiful?" But the 
poor blind man shakes his head. It's all one 
mantle of darkness to him. You may point 



70 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



to the moving train as it goes rushing on its 
way, and say : "Isn't that beautiful?" but the 
blind man exclaims : U I hear the rumbling of 
the wheels, the shrill voice of the whistle, 
but I see no train." He is blind! His 
mother may be at the point of death ; she 
calls her family of grown-up children around 
the bed to bid them good-bye. Some of the 
family remark : "How bright mother looks. 
See what a ray of brightness seems to play 
across her face; " but the poor blind man must 
stand there in utter darkness. Well he 
knows he can see no mother's face in this 
world. Brethren, do you know of a^^thing 
more to be dreaded than blindness? Let my 
voice be hushed, my hearing fail, my limbs 
be deprived of strength, only let me see. 

I notice in this case before us two positive 
statements: First, the man was blind, and 
hekew it. Second, he was made to see, and 
knew it ; and these two statements are not 
left with one man alone for vindication, but 
there are a number ready to testify to both 
statements. The same is true with all im- 
portant cases in Scripture, where some great 
work has been done, and the evidence of it 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 71 

placed on record. God has seen proper to 
bring forth more than one man to testify to 
the genuineness of the work. You remember 
when the world was so confused concerning 
the resurrection of Christ, the witnesses at 
last became so numerous that none can 
scripturally deny the event. So, in this case, 
this poor man's affliction manifested itself to 
those who lived in Jerusalem and surround- 
ing country. He had lived for years in their 
midst, and when his eyes were opened they 
began at once to question him concerning the 
mysterious work. The neighbors and those 
who had met him before, and knew that he 
was blind, said : "Is not this he that sat and 
begged?" Some said: "This is he;" others 
said: "It is like him." Then the man, 
whose eyes were opened, said: "I am he." 
That is to say : "I am the very identical man 
who has lived all these years here among you in 
blindness." The reason why some of his 
neighbors seemed somewhat reluctant to be 
positive about him being the same man, may 
be due to the fact that they never before that 
day had seen him with his eyes open. It 
makes a marked change in the appearance of 



n 



Revival sermons. 



a man when his eyes are closed and when 
they are opened. It's by the brightness of 
the eye that we get the expression, and while 
they had known this man for years, yet the 
brightness of his eyes was sufficient to perplex 
some. But I want you to remember that 
there were some who said in terms most pos- 
itive : "This is he." Then they called the 
parents of him who had received his sight, 
and said : ' ' Is this your son, who 3 7 e say was 
born blind, how then doth he now see?" 
His parents answered them and said: "We 
know that this is our son, and that he was 
born blind, but by what means he now seeth 
we know not, who hath opened his eyes we 
know not; he is of age, ask him ; he shall 
speak for himself." . * * * "Then again 
called they the man that was blind, and said 
unto him : "Give God the praise." And their 
son answered: "One thing I know, that, 
whereas, I was blind, now I see." 

Hence, we have the testimony of his neigh- 
bors, of his parents, and himself, that he 
was really blind, and actually made to see. 
I notice, also, that before this blind man re- 
ceived his sight he had a work to do himself; 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



73 



in other words, he had to follow the direction 
as given by the physician. I have no doubt 
but the Savior could have opened his eyes 
w r hile he was sitting in his easy-chair ; but he 
thought proper to give some directions. Then 
see if the blind man had faith enough in him 
to carry out to a letter his directions, so he 
anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay, 
and then said : u Go wash in the pool of Si- 
loam." Now, says the Word: "Hewent." 
But that is not all, he washed. He had no 
scriptural right to expect help until he had 
carried out fully the directions of the great 
physician. No matter who might scorn at 
the idea of a cure in that way. He has placed 
himself in the hands of one whom he has 
faith to believe will effect a cure; so he went, 
he washed, and what is the result? He came 
seeing. Just what we might expect. He 
proved to the world by meeting the require- 
ments of the great physician that Jesus was 
amply able for his case. 

This brings us to notice briefly the spiritual 
side of the question. I said this man was 
born blind, and knew it. I will now say that 
all men are born in sin, and they know it. 



74 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



We need no proof to convince the world that 
man in his natural state before God is a sin- 
ner, both by nature and by practice. Every 
man to-day who is spiritually blind, feels the 
weight of that blindness equally as forcible as 
the man who was really born blind. There 
is an inward personal consciousness of the fact, 
and the sinner cannot free himself of such 
knowledge. That is why we succeed by 
preaching the Gospel in bringing men to 
Christ. It is not our work altogether to con- 
vince men that they are sinners. They know 
that. But rather in rousing men to action, 
in getting them to have sufficient faith in 
Christ to believe he is able and willing to save 
them from their sins. Men can see that the 
tendency of the whole human famity is down- 
ward. They can see that their lives are not in 
keeping with the Word of God. They are not 
satisfied themselves. Hence, we want to 
preach to them the way of life, until they will 
feel the importance of crying unto Jesus : u O, 
that I might receive my sight!'' The man 
who to-day is in spiritual darkness is just as 
ignorant of Gospel light and spiritual power 
as the man who was born blind, was ignorant 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



75 



of the beauties of nature that were spread all 
around him. He could see nothing beautiful 
about the moss-covered hills or beautiful 
plains, or the stars of light. They were all 
around him and above him, but he could not 
see them, because he was blind. So it is with 
the man who is spiritually blind. I speak to 
him about the joys of salvation. How the 
Sun of Righteousness shines forth in a man's 
heart. You may try to show the sinner how 
God manifests Himself in all we see around 
us ; how he is in the sunshine, in every drop 
of rain, every little flower, and blade of grass, 
how he lives in every Christian home, but the 
wicked man cannot realize that the hand of 
God is in all this, because his eyes have not 
yet been opened. Jesus may be passing by, 
and saying: ' ' Look to me; " but the blind man 
knows it not. He can never see Jesus, until 
he receives spiritual sight. 

I notice, in the next place, that the Jews 
were so worked up about this case, that three 
different times they called the man who had 
been cured to question him. They also 
questioned the neighbors and parents. Then 
they say unto the man: "How opened He 



76 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



thine eyes?" He answered them: "I have 
told you already, and ye did not hear, 
wherefore would ye hear it again? Will ye 
also be His disciples?" Then they reviled 
him, and said : "Thou art his disciple, but we 
are Moses' disciples." 

Such is the nature of a sinful heart, that 
many times he who has been your friend will 
turn and forsake you, because you profess 
faith in Jesus. But, after all, brethren, that 
does not prove in the least that religion is a 
failure, because the fault-finders are those 
who are yet in their sins. The man whose 
eyes were opened had no fault to find. He 
was happy in telling to those around him 
what Jesus had done. The man to-day who 
is really and truly saved, has no fault to find 
with Jesus. It is the sinners who are finding 
fault. I have never found a saved man yet, 
who had a word of complaint to offer against 
Christ and his salvation. It just suits him j 
he wouldn't change it if he could. It seems 
to him like the Lord has prepared a remedy 
on purpose for him. He rejoices, not because 
he lives, but because Christ lives within the 
hope of Glory. Paul says it just suits him, 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



77 



because it saves from condemnation. John 
says it is good enough for me, for it leads me 
to worship God in spirit and in truth. "Be- 
hold what manner of love the Father hath 
bestowed upon us, that we should be called 
the Sons of God." Peter is certainly well 
satisfied, for he declares: "We have not fol- 
lowed cunningly devised fables, when we 
made known unto you the power and coming 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-wit- 
nesses of His majesty." And } T ou may travel 
the world over, and converse with those who 
profess saving faith in Jesus, and not one word 
of complaint will you hear about Christ and 
his plan of salvation. No! No! The faith- 
ful follower of Jesus has no fault to find. He 
has received his sight, and he goes about, 
singing : 

u 0, happy day that fixed my choice, 
On Thee, my Savior, and my God, 

Well may this glowing heart rejoice, 
And tell its raptures all abroad.' ' 

Its the blind who are finding fault. I fail 

to find a single place in the Word of God 

where these Jews had any occasion to doubt 

this poor man's word previous to his cure. I 

take it that he was an honest man, deprived 



78 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



of sight, a beggar, to be sure, but the commu- 
nity had faith in his word until he declared a 
man called Jesus opened his eyes. Then 
they turned against him. Why? Because 
the work was a failure? No ! No ! but be- 
cause they themselves were blind. 

I notice again in this case the same as in 
spiritual healing, Jesus must perform the 
cure. The Scriptures say that since the world 
began, was it not heard that any man opened 
the eyes of the blind, and we learn from the 
teaching of the Word : "That there is none 
other name under heaven given among men, 
whereby we must be saved." The unsaved 
man to-day must go to Jesus. All the doc- 
tors, preachers, lawyers, in the world cannot 
save one sinner. It is a work above the power 
of man. A man is born in sin, and no 
power, save divine power, can cleanse the 
sinful heart and fill the soul with lisfht and 
joy. The Apostles all well understood this, 
hence, they never promise salvation only 
through Jesus. No matter what the world 
might think, they preached repentance toward 
God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as 
the only way of life and salvation. Henc$ 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



79 



Peter, while preaching to the multitudes be- 
fore him, exclaimed: "Repent ye, therefore, 
and be converted that your sins may be 
blotted out when the times of refreshing shall 
come from the presence of the Lord." 

Then you remember he declared that the 
power was not in them, but it was the power 
of God, glorified through the death and re- 
surrection of His son, and through faith in 
His name, the lame are made to walk and 
the sinner made to see. 

But in conclusion, brethren, I want to in- 
sist upon you every one being profited by this 
blind man's experience, or rather by the 
character of his testimony. They crowded 
around this poor fellow, and propounded 
many difficult questions to him, thinking, 
perhaps, they would get him bothered. They 
would accuse Jesus of being a deceiver, then 
they would turn to him who was blind. He 
had but the one testimony to give, and he 
stood by that until they cast him out : "One 
thing I know, that, whereas, I was blind, 
now I see." A writer once said: "God's 
Word reveals facts and not explanations, 
and these facts are to be received on their 



80 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



own evidence." This poor man could not 
tell where Christ went when He left him. 
He could give nothing of Christ's life and 
ministry. He could tell little about how 
Christ opened his eyes. God did not demand 
that of him, but the important thing was the 
cure. He stood by that till the last. Here 
was evidence positive and clear. No ridicule, 
sport or argument could convince him who 
had been in darkness that he did not see. 
People stood before him; the hills and trees 
were all around him ; earth's beauties were 
all radiant about him; he stood with open 
eyes, looked at the world around him, and said : 
"One thing I know, that, whereas, I was 
blind, now I see." So the humble follower 
of Christ, in answer to the questions that are 
so often propounded by those who believe 
not, may say : "1 have but little knowledge 
of the nature of God ; I know but little about 
the Holy Trinity ; I know but little about the 
country in which our Savior lived ; the incar- 
nation of Jesus is a great mystery ; I know 
but little of the world around me, but bless 
God, one thing I do know — when I was un- 
der condemnation, cursed by the burden of 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



81 



sin and guilt, I heeded the words of warning, 
and God, for Christ's sake, pardoned my sins ; 
then I did see, and I knew it." Brethren, 
that is the kind of Christian testimony we 
need to-day to shake the world. No argu- 
ment of the unbeliever can shake a testimony 
like that. If you are not able to unfold to the 
world the great plan of salvation by words of 
eloquence, you may be able to stand as a 
witness to one great fact — that, while you 
were once dead to God, you are now alive to 
Christ. No man needs to depend on his 
neighbor, or the opinion of any man on earth, 
concerning this matter. There is not a man 
in this church to-day but what knows the dif- 
ference between day and night. You know 
whether you are walking in the darkness or 
in the light. You do not have to call in your 
neighbors to ascertain whether you are in joy 
or pain. So with spiritual light. It is the 
work of God, opening the sinner's eyes, and 
every time that God, for Christ's sake, opens a 
sinner's eyes, he sees and knows it, and the 
combined world cannot convince him that he 
is mistaken. He looks, he sees, and that is 
evidence enough. God don't demand of any 



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REVIVAL SERMONS. 



man to explain the theory, but He does ex- 
pect of us that we will stick to the fact; that, 
whereas, we were blind, now we see; and 
that is the testimony of all saved men every- 
where. Bring them in from all lands, rep- 
resenting all the nations of the earth : bring 
them from the islands of the seas ; let them 
come from the East and the West, the North 
and the South ; yes, from every civilized land ; 
bring in the witnesses whose words are re- 
ceived without question in all the events of so- 
ciety, and listen for a moment, if you please, 
and hear them speak: "One who is called 
Jesus opened our eyes, and we see. 9 ' 

Three years ago a young Japanese stood 
up at an annual conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal church and said: "My friends, I 
have long felt the need of some help that 
could not be obtained by trusting in our idols. 
Something seemed to tell me I was not right. 
I was bothered — uneasy — what to do I did 
not know, but providentially for me a mis- 
sionary came over and preached the way of 
life. He told us about Jesus, how He came 
all the way from heaven to save the lost, and 
that he would save all who would come. I 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



83 



said : 'That means me.' I claimed the prom- 
ise, and O ! my brethren, how sweetly Jesus 
saved me, and here I am to-day, thousands 
of miles from home, to tell you of Jesus, how 
he saved a poor sinner like me.' " 

6 'One thing I know, that, whereas, I was 
blind, now I see." 



SERMON V. 



Text. — " Jesus answered and said unto him: Verily, verily, 
I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot 
see the kingdom of God." — John iii, 3. 



ISpjiURING the days of our Savior's earthly 
illP career there was a man named Nicode- 
mus, a ruler of the Jews, who seems to have 
been posted on almost everything except the 
one important thing ; but Nicodemus was not 
alone in his day, for there were many others 
whose minds ran in the same channel, and if 
he was living to-day he would not be the only 
man wondering about God's peculiar law of 
salvation. He came to Jesus by night, and ad- 
dressed him concerning the way of life. It is 
possiblethat he was under conviction, and that 
it became so deep and pungent that he felt a 
double anxiety to converse with the Savior on 
this all-important matter. I think it is a good 
thing, however, that Nicodemus went to 

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REVIVAL SERMONS. 



85 



Christ, for there was not one minister out of 
ten who could have mustered courage enough 
to stand face to face to a man like Nicocle- 
mus. It is not a severe task to say unto a 
man, who is deep down in sin and vice : "Yon 
ought to be converted and be a better man !" 
He will acknowledge such to be the facts, but 
you walk up to a man like Nicodemus, an 
honorable counselor, a member of the Jewish 
Sanhedrim, a man of more than ordinary 
ability, a man of broad views, holding a high 
position, looked up to by all classes, as a man 
whose influence was good, and you know we 
have a timidity in saying to such men, you 
must be born again, because we have a great 
many who profess to have the experience of 
the new birth, and yet, from all outward ap- 
pearances, will not correspond with a man 
like Nicodemus. But of course Jesus had the 
advantage of all other ministers. He was the 
world's great teacher. And this talented man 
already expressed himself as having faith in 
him before he asked the way of life. He 
said unto him: "Rabbi, we know that 
thou art a teacher come from God, for no 
man can do these miracles that thou doest, 



86 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



except God be with him." That opened up 
the way for our Savior to lay before him the 
doctrine of the new birth, and he exclaimed : 
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man 
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of 
God." 

My friends, if these words are true, they 
embody one of the most solemn questions that 
can come before us. We can afford to be de- 
ceived about everything else better than we 
can the way to heaven. The Word shows be- 
yond all contradiction that there is one step to 
be taken by us every one ; otherwise we shall 
miss heaven. They also show that it is pos- 
sible for a man to take a great many steps, and 
then fail if he overlooks this one, for the words 
of the great teacher are : "Except a man be 
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of 
God." There are many different ways of 
which you may make choice to some of the 
cities of our land. Some will travel over one 
road to go to Chicago, and some another. The 
same is true of all the great cities. But when 
it comes to taking a journey to that city that 
lieth four-square, we must all take the same 
road. Jesus Christ is the door, and the new 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



87 



birth is the way, for, says the great teacher : 
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see 
the kingdom of God." The doctrine of the 
new birth lays before the world the foundation 
for theworld's salvation. All our hopes for the 
future are to be built on this foundation. If 
you take from the house a good foundation, 
the building has lost its value; at least par- 
tially so. But in a spiritual sense, entirely 
so; for, itis evidently clear, without this found- 
ation to build on, no man can see God. When 
Jesus was conversing with a certain young 
man, he said: "One thing thou lackest." 
That seems a very small matter to some, but 
how important the one thing may be. A 
watch may be perfect in everything, except it 
is minus the hour hand. That is the one 
thing lacking. It does seem, indeed, a very 
little thing, but it renders the whole watch 
valueless to you. A man was once locked in 
jail, when one dollar would have saved the 
embarrassment. The one thing lacking was 
the one dollar. One stave taken from a barrel 
renders it valueless; one rail taken from the 
railway track will wreck a train; one inch 
taken from a telegraph wire will stop the great- 



88 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



est dispatch ever penned. I was on board a 
train bound for Mattoon some time ago, when 
suddenly I heard the shrill whistle of the en- 
gine, the bell rang, the brakes were applied, 
the train slowed up and a second later was 
standing still. The conductor entered the car 
in which I was seated, laid hold of the collar of 
a man's coat, and led him to the platform of 
the car, gave him a push, rang the bell, and 
we were soon speeding across the prairie at 
the rate of 40 miles an hour. I felt at first 
almost indignant at the conductor, and at the 
first opportunity I said to him: "What made 
you do that?" He said the intruder had no 
ticket, and he had informed him before reach- 
ing the latter station that he would carry him 
no further. Now, the question arises, what 
was lacking? We answer, the ticket, a 
small bit of pasteboard, perhaps two inches in 
length, that seemed like a small thing, but it 
was sufficient to keep that man out of a city 
which he was trying to reach that day. So 
it is in spiritual things. The new birth when 
lacking may seem to many to be something 
of minor importance, but it will most assuredly 
render a moral life null and void, "For except 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



89 



a man be born again, he cannot see the king- 
dom of God." Suppose I write a cipher on 
the blackboard, what is it worth? Nothing. 
I write another, and so on until six ciphers 
appear on the board. I make a dollar mark 
at the left, and say to this congregation, tell 
me the amount of money that it calls for and I 
will pay it over to you. They all say it calls 
for nothing. I place a figure one to the left, 
and a school-boy cries out it is a million dol- 
lars. The one thing needful to give it value 
was the figure one. So man may have a 
great many good qualities, but in the great 
day of eternity they will appear on the led- 
gers of heaven's unshaken walls, before the 
eye of God, as so many ciphers. ' 'For ex- 
cept a man be born again, he cannot see the 
kingdom of God. v 

Some months ago I was journeying through 
an Eastern cave many miles under ground. 
Some places we would journey through a lit- 
tle narrow passage way, a mile in length, the 
greater part of the way not more than two 
feet in width. Then out into great rooms, 
some of which would measure one thousand 
feet in circumference, ceiling two hundred 



90 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



feet high. Other places down we would go 
two or three hundred feet as steep as the 
steepest hill; then across an old river bed, 
then around a mountain of rock, all the while 
in midnight darkness, save the dim light of 
our candles. I said to myself, what would I 
do in case the guide would desert me? Well, 
I knew there was no chance for me to ever 
find my way out. I voluntarily entered the 
cave, but must have help, or I never would 
walk again in the land of sunshine. And 
this to my mind represents the condition of 
the world previous to the coming of Christ. 
The world has voluntarily wandered away 
from God, wandering in darkness that no 
tongue can describe. There was no possible 
way of escape ; all was dark and the world 
lost, and just at that time Jesus came from the 
bosom of the Father, and said I have a way 
for man's escape. And, my friends, you may 
spend a life-time in trying to plan a more de- 
sirable way, but all in vain. The words are 
penned on the pages of revelation: "Except 
a man be born again, he cannot see the king- 
dom of God." 



revival sermons. 



91 



I notice for a moment the necessity of the 
new birth. Man's mind, heart, and life are 
wrong: until he is regenerated, and without 
the new birth no person whatever can see the 
kingdom of God. It is not said he may not, 
or not likely he will, nor he shall not, but the 
words of the great teacher are : u Hecannot. < " 
That is, its utterly impossible to enter the 
kingdom of heaven independent of the new 
birth. The text does not say, however, that 
a man cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, 
but it does emphatically say he cannot see the 
kingdom of God. That means he shall not 
be able to get in sight of it. He may pos- 
sibly see the gate, but certainly cannot see in- 
side, God declares in His Word that by the 
deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. 

Again, we read, the carnal mind is enmity 
against God, and we know this carnal mind 
manifests itself in every unsaved man by reb- 
elling against Bible truth, to that extent, as 
to decline to accept the way of life, and hiv- 
ing this unwillingness to answer, and obey 
the voice of Jesus, there arises a universal ne- 
cessity for the new birth to bring men into 
perfect harmony with the teachings of Christ. 



92 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



We cannot pray in the spirit until we are born 
of the spirit; we cannot sing with grace in 
our hearts, while we ourselves are minus of 
the grace. 

O! but says one, don't the Bible say to 
"work out your own salvation with fear and 
trembling.' ' Yes, but you had better get it 
first. People who talk about working at 
their own salvation, when they haven't any 
salvation, reminds me of the sick patient, 
when the doctor said drink a cup of hot tea 
and sweat. He said : "Doctor, if it is just the 
same to you, I will sweat first and take the 
tea afterward." You have heard men talk 
about being happy in heaven, but I want to 
tell 3'ou that the inhabitants of heaven were 
happy before they reached the land of rest. 
They rejoiced in the blessed hope of a glorious 
immortality before they departed this life. It 
is not going to heaven altogether that makes 
people happy, it is the new birth that gives 
them a blessed foretaste of the kingdom of 
glory. You take a sinner and place him 
right beside the Savior in heaven, wouldn't 
he be happy? Yes, he would; he would 
pray for somebody to kill him in case he 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



93 



should pray at all. Suppose the case you in- 
vite fifty religious persons to come to your 
home to-night for the purpose of engaging in 
a prayer meeting; then go out and find a 
first class sinner and have him come in. Do 
you suppose there would be any enjoyment 
there for him. No, none whatever. He is 
out of his element. He would enjoy that 
meeting as you Christian men would enjoy 
spending a night in the gambling room 
among the roughs ; hence you see the neces- 
sity of the new birth to bring men into fellow- 
ship with Christ in this life that it may be the 
joy of their heart to hold communion with 
Christ hereafter. Let us notice now what 
the new birth is, or first, if you please, what 
it is not. It is not unreasonable, for God 
never makes unreasonable demands of his 
people. 

I believe the laws of our country demand 
of you, if you desire to become President of 
these United States, you must be an Ameri- 
can citizen; so when foreigners come to this 
country they have no right to find fault with 
our laws. So God has seen proper to make 
it a law that everyone who gets into the king.- 



94 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



dom of grace shall be born into it, and no one 
has any right to accuse God of being unrea- 
sonable. Again, I am sure that the new 
birth is not imagination, for no man has 
power to even conceive such a mysterious 
work, neither the wisdom or education of the 
world has ever taught it. It is not of human 
origin. It is a divine principle calling for 
divine power to bring it about. The new 
birth is not simply believing that Jesus is the 
Christ, for Satan believed and trembled ; 
neither is it conviction, for Felix was con- 
victed, so much so that he cried out to the 
soldier to take Paul away. It is not being 
almost persuaded, for King Agrippa had just 
such an experience, and yet never found the 
way of life, as far as we know. We know it 
is not formality, for all forms without power 
are dead, and I might add a hundred other 
things right along this line, none of which, 
nor all of them for that matter, would consti- 
tute the new birth. Holding then that man 
is born in sin, that it becomes a part of his 
very nature, that the new birth is absolutely 
necessary, and after having noticed what it is 
not, we will notice briefly what the new birth 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



95 



is. The new birth signifies a change, a very 
great change, a wonderful change in the heart 
of man, by the power of the spirit of God. 
It means that something has been done for 
the sinner that could not possibly have been 
done without the help of God. And when 
done, brings a man into an experience that 
he never had before. When sin entered into 
this world it did not destroy the essence of the 
soul, only made it dead to God, so the new 
birth is not to give a new faculty but a new 
quality. It is not to destroy the old stamp, 
but to imprint the new. While the new 
birth is a wonderful work, it may be accom- 
plished in one moment by the sinner's con- 
sent. God can do a great work in a brief 
time. I hold that a man maybe a sinner one 
moment and a disciple of Jesus the next. I 
will make it stronger still; he may be a sin- 
ner the last half of one minute and a saved 
man the first second of the next. And the 
change is as great as it is rapid. The Apostle 
Paul declares if any man be in Christ, he is a 
new creature. You see He strikes right at the 
work of creating. It produces a change of 
mind, change of heart, change of spirit, of 



96 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



purpose, and a change of life. Indeed, this 
divine work is so complete in the salvation of 
a sinner that the only clear explanation is to 
call the man a new creature in Christ Jesus. 
Completely changed through and through by 
the power of God. The idea is a new cre- 
ation, and I want every soul here to-day to 
know that I do not advise any second-hand 
work; I want first principles first, and second 
principles second. You may patch an old 
coat until it is covered all over, and it is the 
same old coat still. So a sinner may try to 
patch up, cover over his sinful life, but all in 
vain. If he lives a hundred years, he will be 
the same old sinner. There is only one way 
to get rid of sin, and that is the divine way. 
Accept Christ as your real, living, personal 
Savior ! 

Now, my unconverted friends, let us be 
fair with each other, let us deal honestly con- 
cerning this matter. Do you not feel your 
need of this divine work? Have you not 
tried to plan some other way? Have you not 
been troubled at heart? Have you not gone 
to some friend and said: u Do you really 
think a man must be born again?" What 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



97 



made you do that? Why were you so con- 
cerned about it? Aye, you well know, you 
are not satisfied with your condition. God 
was pressing this important matter upon your 
heart, and you were wondering if it could be 
settled in any other way. It shows clearly 
that you have a doubt in your mind concern- 
ing your future happiness, in case you over- 
look this all-important work. And I want 
you to remember also that when you have a 
doubt in } 7 our mind concerning the way, you 
must always give God the benefit of the 
doubt. But in this case there is no room for 
even a shadow of doubt. For Jesus says : 
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see 
the kingdom of God." 

My friends, I want you to look right into 
the very heart of this one word — Except. If 
there is a drunkard here to-night, you expect 
to go to heaven, and so you may but remem- 
ber the word — Except. If there is a profane 
man here, you think some day you will enter 
the land of rest, but remember the word — Ex- 
cept ! If there is a good moral man here, 
you expect to go to heaven; its possible for 
you, but remember the word — Except. It 



98 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



takes its place right between every sinner and 
the kingdom of God. Jesus placed it there. 
He placed it there to stay. You cannot go 
around it on either side, neither above it or 
below it, it is there to stay. All the combined 
efforts of the world cannot get it out of the 
way until God's requirements are all met. 
Let me hold up the word before you once 
more: "Verity, verily, I say unto thee, ex- 
cept a man be born again he cannot see the 
kingdom of God." 

While we arise and sing, may our dear 
Heavenly Father, who wills that all shall be 
saved, grant to-night to help some poor sin- 
ful soul, that Jesus died to save, to accept the 
way, and this night be born again ! 



SERMON VI. 



Text. — "I will arise and go to my father." — Luke xv, 18. 



E have in this parable a statement con- 
cerning a father dividing his property 
between his two sons. The younger of them 
said : ' ' Father, give me the portion of goods 
thatfalleth to me;" and, says the Word: "He 
divided unto them his living." Notice, m) T 
friends, it was the younger of the two boys 
who made the demand. I am willing to make 
some allowance for this boy, as he was young, 
and had but little judgment concerning the 
way to success. Every boy reaches a certain 
period in life, between the ages of twelve and 
twenty, when he knows more than his father, 
or rather, he thinks he does. I have passed 
through that period, and I think I am safe in 
making the assertion that all the men here to- 
night have had a similar experience. Well 
do I remember when I was a boy, on the 

99 



100 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



farm, of being surprised at the ignorance of 
my father concerning the best way to do farm 
work. I often said to myself: " When I get 
to be a man, I will teach my father a few 
things, at least;" but after-years have con- 
vinced me of the fact that my father was 
equally as well posted as myself. But as to 
the case before us. I think this boy made an 
inexcusable mistake in asking his father to 
divide the property. If the father could see 
possibilities in his boy sufficient to enable him 
to feel like dividing his property, all right; 
but whenever children walk up to their par- 
ents and demand the property divided, it be- 
comes a serious matter. But this father, like 
most all other fathers, was anxious to see his 
boy do well, and was at a loss to know the 
best thing to do. 

He, perhaps, reasoned in this wise. He 
said: ' ' If I fail to grant his request, he may 
become dissatisfied, and make out of himself 
a wreck, then I may feel that some of the 
blame is due to me ; but if I grant his request 
and then he fails, he can only blame himself." 
Hence he decided to divide the property. 
There is something about this pathetic story 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



101 



that goes straight to every human heart. I 
know of no story in the Bible that has left 
deeper impressions in the minds and hearts of 
men than the story of this wandering boy. 
There are fathers and mothers in a hundred 
homes in this land who will sit down quietly 
this summer evening in their own home and 
read of this wandering boy, and as they read 
the tears will fall from their cheeks as they 
think how similar was his case to that of their 
own boy. Parents, whose children have done 
well in life, will read this story with thankful 
hearts, as they remember their own boys 
never wandered from home. Many a poor 
criminal has read these words with a sobbing 
heart, as he remembers leaving his father's 
home to engage in sin that has brought him 
to disgrace and sorrow. Hence, you see, it 
affects all classes. It seems that the greatest 
desire of this young man was to get away 
from home. I have no doubt but that he 
stood before his father and laid down the 
plans for his future success. He had heard of 
other young men going off to far countries 
and getting rich, making a fortune in a few 
months. Perhaps he tells his father of a num- 



102 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



ber of such cases, but the father reminds him 
of the fact that there are many others who go 
and spend their money — return home with- 
out a penny! "Ah," says the boy, "don't 
you allow yourself a moment's uneasiness 
about me; I know what I am doing; I have 
a mind of my own ; I expect in three or four 
years to be proprietor of some first-class bank. 
Indeed, I can almost see a portion of the 
world's wealth moving in this direction." 
And in this happy spirit he bids good-bye to 
the old home, starts out in life, as he believes, 
with bright prospects before him. And I can 
see him, in my imagination, walking across a 
field where he has raked the hay and followed 
the plow. He smiles and says : "Good-bye, 
old farm ! No more hard work for me. I 
am going off to speculate, get rich, live fat, 
without work." On he goes. Week after 
week he journeys on to distant fields. I do 
not know how long his journey continued; 
but, perhaps, a long time. Heat last reaches 
an old, ancient town, where boys and girls 
are promenading the streets. He likes the 
looks of the place, and makes up his mind to 
locate, at least for awhile, puts up at a first- 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



103 



class inn, calls on a boy to black his boots, 
folds his arms, and says: "No more trouble 
for me." He makes friends very fast. The 
3 r oung men of the town discover that he has 
money, and they flock around him by the 
score, and it realty seems that he has more 
friends than anyone in town. I suppose you 
are all aware of the fact that it is no trouble to 
have friends if you have plenty of money, and 
are free to spend it. This young man takes 
in all places of amusements; he is in the 
very midst of enjoyment, and is surprised at 
himself to think he. did not have his father 
divide the estate sooner ; but we need not be 
surprised, after a number of sunshiny days, if 
we are called to pass through a few day T s of 
cloudy weather. 

So in the case of the prodigal son, his last 
day of sunshine passed away with his last 
dollar. Money and sunshine sometimes dis- 
appear at the same time, and leave a man in 
darkness. So one dark morning the prodi- 
gal finds himself without money. A few 
months before he was really mad at himself 
to think he had not left home sooner; but 
now he is equall} 7 as much dissatisfied to 



104 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



think he left at all. His clothes are getting 
thread-bare, his feet are getting too long for 
his shoes, at least his toes seem inclined to 
crawl out. He is ashamed to work, for he 
has been playing the millionaire. Of course 
it will not do to beg, and there he is. Young 
men, take a look at him. He don't look 
much like buying out his father. By this 
time the young people of the town are get- 
ting suspicious of him. They have their 
doubts as to his being so wealthy. He can- 
not dress as other young men who go in 
fashionable society. The young men give 
him a cold shoulder, the girls treat him with 
indifference. What to do, the poor fellow 
does not know. He has no credit, the land- 
lord presents his board bill, but the young 
man's money is all gone. Methinks I see 
him stealing quietly away to his little room, 
sits down all alone, thinks over his misfor- 
tune, and then takes a good, old fashioned 
cry as he remembers how he has spent the 
hard earnings of his father. He is homesick 
all over. 

Boys, were you ever homesick? It is aw- 
ful in the extreme. It is different from all 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



105 



other sickness. After a man becomes as sick 
as he thinks is possible, then he just begins to 
get sick. I presume it comes as near sea- 
sickness as anything else, and the Chinaman 
has well described sea-sickness. He says it is 
"a very disgustible sick." 

But let us go on with the prodigal son. He 
takes a little bundle of clothing in his hand, 
starts down the public highway, friendless and 
alone. Men remark as he passes by : "There 
goes a tramp." He inquires for work, but 
people are not anxious to pick up strangers; 
and, to make the matter more serious, a 
mighty famine prevailed in that land ; but we 
learn from the Scriptures that he succeeded in 
finding a place where he could feed the swine. 
Could you have seen him wading around in 
the mud, 3 T ou would not have thought for one 
moment that he was the same boy who left 
home so cheerful a while before. But, after 
all, young men, that is the way the devil 
does. He leads young men from Christian 
homes, from good society, from the church of 
Christ, and leaves them friendless and alone. 

But now comes the question, how did he get 
back? I read from the Word, that after 



106 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



awhile he came to himself , and said: "I will 
arise and go to my father." I like that reso- 
lution. It has the right ring to it. He is 
now getting down to business. He does not 
sa}' : "I wish I could go home," or "I wish I 
were there," nor, "I believe I'll make the ef- 
fort," but he does emphatically say: "I will 
arise and go to my father." 

When I speak to some young men of to- 
day about becoming religious, they say they 
would like to become religious, but they are 
afraid to make the start lest they might fail. 
However, they think some day they will 
make the effort. But this prodigal has no 
more time to lose. His case, to him, is seri- 
ous; hence he makes a firm resolution, then 
and there to arise and go to the father. I am 
not able to say how many tiresome days he 
journeyed to reach home, how many dark 
nights he experienced without shelter ; but 
one thing I do know, he at last came in sight 
of the old home, and I will venture the as- 
sertion right here that the old homestead 
never seemed so dear to him in all his life. 
His father meets him down the way, em- 
braces him to his heart, when the young man 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



107 



at once begins to confess his sins. But the 
father said to his servants: "Bring forth the 
best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring 
on his hand, and shoes on his feet ; and bring 
hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us 
eat and be merry." For this, my son, was 
dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is 
found." Oh ! what joy there is in that home. 
But I suppose nothing to compare with the 
joy in heaven when a wandering boy returns 
to God. 

Now let us look right into the heart of this 
parable. We learn by the reading of the 
story that the young man took the liberty to 
have his father divide the property ; and the 
result was a very great failure. And every 
young man who divides that which is given 
him by our Heavenly Father, his time, talent, 
education, influence, and does not use them 
to the glory of God, may expect at the end of 
life to be in circumstances much more to be 
dreaded than those of the prodigal son. Again, 
I notice the prodigal son suffering with hun- 
ger, while in his father's home were all the 
luxuries of life. 



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REVIVAL SERMONS. 



This may well represent the lamentable 
condition of him who has resisted all the 
pleadings of the father, and the invitations to 
Jesus, until he stands away from friends, a 
poor, lost soul away from his father. Are 
there any such here to-night? If so, will you 
not say : "I will arise and go to the father." 

Then I notice this poor boy found his 
wicked associates could do him no good — 
they derserted him, and left him to himself. 
So it will be at the last day, unnumbered 
thousands of } T oung men are living lives of 
dissipation rather than lose the good-will of 
evil associates. But when the trying hour 
comes they will profit } r ou nothing. I want 
to say to every young man, in hearing of my 
voice, that I will do more for you than the 
nearest friend you have, if that friend is an 
open sinner in the sight of God. When your 
cheeks are growing pale and your voice be- 
gins to tremble; when you feel the last hour 
is near at hand, I will get up at the mid- 
night hour, the darkest night, and face the 
storms of winter to reach your home that I 
may kneel by }~our bed-side and pray God to 
forgive your sins and accept you as his child. 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



109 



That is something that wicked men cannot 
do, hence your best friend is the one who is 
most faithful in the darkest clays of life. 

I well remember when I was a small boy 
attending school, I was reading a story some- 
thing like this : Four boys were standing gaz- 
ing at the Natural bridge in Virginia. They 
could see the names of many that had been 
carved in the great rocks that were laid one 
above the other by the hand of God. And, 
of course, it was boy-like to have a desire to 
place his name above all the rest, So, with 
knife in hand, one boy starts, climbing almost 
perpendicularly up the side of the great bridge. 
Carefully he places his fingers and toes in the 
niches made by the hands of others. Higher 
and higher he climbs, until he carves his name 
above that of George Washington ; but not 
satisfied with this, he carves notch after notch, 
until he is high above the highest point that 
had ever been reached by others ; and now, 
for the first time, he sees the perilous condition 
he is in. The boys below see the mistake he 
has made. In his haste to ascend he has made 
the niches so far apart that to try to descend 
was certain death. There is only oneway of 



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escape, and that is to make the top. One boy 
hastens to notify his parents of the perilous 
condition of their boy. The parents come in 
haste — the mother kneels in prayer, with eyes 
fixed upon her boy, who is clinging to the 
cliffs a hundred feet above. The father takes 
his place at the top of the bridge, and cries 
out to his boy : ' ' Son, don't look down ; keep 
your eyes on me, don't fail to look up, and I 
will save you." A neighbor comes in haste 
with rope in hand, but alas ! it is fifty feet too 
short. The sun is setting, the mantle of dark- 
ness will soon overshadow the scene. The boy 
is fast growing weaker, his hand trembles, he 
is slowly carving the last niche he lias strength 
to make, his arm is getting numb, the knife- 
blade is almost worn away, a moment later it 
drops from his hand and falls by his praying 
mother on the rocks below. She rings her 
hands, and cries out in despair: 6 ' Is there no 
hope?" At that moment the father motions 
to one who is coming with more rope to make 
haste, and then, once more, exclaims : "Son, 
keep looking up." The man arrives; the 
rope is quickly fastened and hangs swinging 
by the side of the boy, who seems more like 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



Ill 



one dead than alive. His head drops care- 
lessly to one side, he loses the use of one hand, 
his arm falls by his side, when, more prov- 
idential than otherwise, it drops through the 
loop of the hanging rope. A few seconds of 
breathless stillness prevail, his other hand 
loses its grip, and the boy is swinging in the air. 
Slowly they draw him to the top where his 
father is reaching with half the length of his, 
body over the great rocks to save his son, who 
is soon in his arms. 

Young men, you tremble while I tell you 
this story ; but, oh ! how many boys have 
strayed away from their Heavenly Father, 
and are, at this moment, in the very midst of 
peril. Some, perhaps, are here to-night who 
have wandered from God; and, when you 
left your home to come to this revival meet- 
ing, your Heavenly Father was saying : 
"Look to me, and I will save you." 

While Jesus Christ, who died that all 
might live, is standing at the right hand of 
God, pleading in tender tones and beckoning 
with hands marked with the nails, He looks 
from that city that hath twelve foundations, 



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and with one hand on the beatific throne and 
the other reaching toward the hearts of men, 
He urges you to say, like the prodigal : "I 
will arise and go to my father." 

Do you not remember that unfortunate man 
who stole his way out to a rock in the sea at ebb 
tide ? He amused himself for a season by watch- 
ing the crested waves that dashed against the 
rock; but at last, tired and weary, he falls 
asleep ; the tide returned and cut off his re- 
treat to the shore. He at once realizes his 
condition ; he cries for help, raised a signal of 
distress, but all in vain. Higher and higher 
the waters rise until he is swept away, never- 
more to return until that great day when the 
sea shall give up her dead. May Almighty 
God open the eyes of every unsaved soul here 
to-night. The waves of temptation are 
gathering around you ; the tide of unbelief is 
sweeping many away, who, at the last day, 
can expect nothing more than to hear the 
words: " He that is unrighteous, let him be 
unrighteous still." My unconverted friends, 
it is only a question of time, and, perhaps, a 
very brief time, that may be allotted to you to 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



113 



settle this all-important matter. You may at 
this moment be standing on the very brink of 
the grave. Yes, one more step and you have 
reached your fate. You can only tremble and 
fall into the bottomless pit. Oh ! my Father, 
help some dear one here just now to say : "I, 
too, will arise and go to my Father." 



SERMON VII. 



Text. — u And the seed of Israel separated themselves from 
all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins and the 
iniquities of their fathers; and they stood up in their 
place and read in the book of the law of the Lord, their 
God, one-fourth part of the day; and another fourth 
part they confessed and worshiped the Lord, their 
God."— Xeh. ix, 2, 3. 



HEN we are going to preacli a small 
sermon, it is always in order to get a 
good big text. So we have it in this one. 
We have a number of very important state- 
ments recorded in the book of Nehemiah, and 
especially is this true of the ninth chapter. 
These words were penned by the prophet long 
years ago, but they embrace a few clear, 
plain, practical points that are calculated to 
help those who read them with sincerity. 

The inspired penman makes mention here 
of a certain meeting that took place, where 
some very important work was done. In- 

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115 



deed, I regard it as a most interesting and 
successful meeting. Any meeting where peo- 
ple are called together to worship God may 
be regarded as being successful. Any meeting 
where men repent of their sins may be called 
successful. Such was the case in this meeting:. 

Any meeting may be considered successful 
where men, in the proper sense, confess their 
sins. This they did in the case before us. 
Any meeting where the Bible is read with 
sincerity may property be called a successful 
meeting. Such was the case in the one re- 
corded by the prophet. 

Any gathering where God is worshiped 
may be called successful. This commendable 
feature was also a part of the proceedings of 
this meeting. Hence, we have these four 
points of interest. They confessed, read the 
Word of the Lord, repented of their sins, and 
worshiped God. I notice, in the first place, 
that they had become very much dissatisfied 
with their condition, so they appointed a meet- 
ing for the purpose of taking a retrospect of 
the past, and see if something could not be 
done that might prove helpful to them in the 
future. They had reached a point in life, in 



116 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



which they were really dissatisfied with them- 
selves. It is a blessed thing that they reached 
that point. There are too many people who 
get dissatisfied with everybody else but them- 
selves. I think a man stands a better chance 
for heaven when he becomes dissatisfied with 
himself than to be finding fault with those 
around him. So in this case, each one seems 
to have been dissatisfied concerning his own 
case. Their consciences were troubling them. 
They felt that something must be done. So 
they agreed to read from the book of the law 
of the Lord their God, and then see how their 
lives would compare. 

Brethren, that was a wise idea. If it had 
been some people to-day, I think they would 
want to compare their case with their neigh- 
bors, and then give in the decision in their 
own favor. Well, says the Scriptures : "They 
stood up, and read the law of the Lord one- 
fourth part of the day.' 9 I doubt very much 
if we have any account of a more interesting 
Bible reading than this one. It was a hold- 
ing up of God's Word before them, and the 
pressing of Bible truths upon their hearts, 
with such weight as to bring them to a con- 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



117 



fession. Methinks I see one of the number 
stand up and read from the twentieth chapter 
of Exodus: 4 4 Six clays shalt thou labor and 
do all th)*work, but on the seventh day thou 
shalt not do any work." Quite a number 
remember that they are guilty as touching 
this point. He reads on : " Honor thy father 
and thy mother." Quite a number of the 
young people remember that they have not 
adhered strictly to the command. Perhaps 
another one reads : "Thou shalt not steal." 
One poor fellow grows red in the face as he 
remembers on a certain occasion of borrowing 
a dollar of his neighbor while his neighbor 
was asleep. He succeeded admirably well in 
getting the dollar, but his conscience reminds 
him of the fact that it was all wrong, and a 
great sin in the sight of God. Another 
reads : "Thou shalt not covet," that is, to de- 
sire or grieve after that which belongs to 
others. There are some in the congregation 
who well know they have been guilty along 
this line. It is possible that another reads : 
"Thou shalt not make unto thyself gods of 
silver or gold." Some of them remember how 
often their hearts have been found yearning 



118 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



after the world rather than God. So they 
continue to read for a fourth part of a day. 
By this time they could see so many wrong 
things they had done, that they decided, with- 
out a dissenting voice, to confess their sins to 
one another and to God. I do not know 
what all they were guilty of, but I suppose 
similar sins to that of to-day. Talking about 
their neighbors, not paying their debts, lieing 
on one another, professing to be Christians, 
and living in sin, refusing to pray when 
called upon, finding fault with God's dealings 
with men, and a great man}^ other sins. For 
I find by the reading of the Word that when 
they were ready to confess, it took them one- 
fourth part of a day ; so it is evidently clear 
that the confessing was no small matter. Let 
me read again: "And another fourth part 
they confessed and worshiped the Lord, their 
God." So, brethren, you may divide up the 
three hours just as you like. They confessed 
and worshiped God one-fourth part of a day. 
I suppose it took them about two hours and 
three-quarters to confess, and then they had 
the other fifteen minutes to worship God, 
And, for my part, I would much prefer a work 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



119 



of this kind, rather than be spending so much 
time in trying to worship God when you are 
not in a condition so to do. 

I remark, in the second place, that, in my 
judgment, a meeting of this kind would be 
beneficial in some communities about once a 
month. Call on one brother to read from the 
book of Romans: "Now I beseech you, 
brethren, for Christ's sake, and the love of 
the spirit, that you strive together with me in 
your prayers." Then ask the question: 
How many of you have been striving with 
each other in prayer for the prosperity of the 
church — for the salvation of souls? How 
many of you have offered a prayer during the 
past week that your pastor might be able to 
so preach on the Sabbath that God might be 
glorified? Then read from Corinthians: 
"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name 
of the Lord Jesus, that there be no division 
among you, but that 3/e be perfectly joined 
together in the same mind, and in the same 
judgment. Then it might be well to read 
again the language of the apostle: "For the 
kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but 
righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy 



120 



hevival sermons. 



Ghost." Then, if any are not fully satisfied 

with their spiritual condition, make their case 

a subject of prayer ; and, don't you see, 

brethren, what a tendency such meetings 

would have in binding us together in Chris- 
es o 

tian love?- I am not much inclined to com- 
plain ; but I declare unto you it does seem to 
me that a little more good, honest confession 
would be very acceptable to God. 

Do you know why there are so many un- 
happy professors in the world? Well, I 
think I do. They do enough wrong things 
to make the devil ashamed of himself, then 
stand up in class-meeting, and say: "Some- 
how I don't feel as happy as I have in other 
days, but I hope to hold out faithful, and 
would like to be remembered in your prayers." 
Yes, they are very anxious to hold out, and 
you need not be surprised if God holds a great 
number of such professors clear outside of the 
kingdom of glory. 

I tell you, it means something to live a de- 
voted Christian life, and I have no doubt in 
my mind but there are thousands who have 
lost the joy of salvation by trying to keep sin 
smothered up in their heart. No man can en- 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



121 



joy life in the proper sense, and at the same 
time be concealing that which is wrong in his 
heart. 

It was reported to a certain preacher, as he 
sat in his pulpit, almost ready to begin his 
sermon, that a certain member of his flock 
had actually been guilty of stealing, and that 
the guilty party was that moment in the con- 
gregation. The minister arose, and stated 
the case, then added : "I will wait five min- 
utes for the accused to confess ; if no confes- 
sion is made, I will doubtless find the guilty 
party, so you had better confess." The time 
allotted soon passed away, no confession be- 
ing made. Then the minister called for a 
hatchet, arose to his feet, and said: 4 'If I 
throw this hatchet it will certainly hit the 
guilty man." He said to the congregation : 
"You who are not guilty need not dodge; you 
will not get hurt, but the guilty man had bet- 
ter watch." He then drew back his arm as 
though he was going to throw, and that mo- 
ment down went a man behind the bench. He 
knew he was guilty. God knew it, and yet 
he was there to join with others in the wor- 
ship of God, with that sinful heart, and the 



122 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



result was, he had to dodge. And the man 
to-day who is guilty of wronging God will 
have to dodge or get hit, probably both, every 
time he hears a Gospel sermon. I have heard 
men accuse the minister of preaching certain 
sermons for them, when the truth of the mat- 
ter is, the minister was preaching the Gospel 
of Christ, and when the pure Gospel of Jesus 
came in contact with their guilty consciences, 
it made them dodge. 

The Gospel has teeth, and Gospel teeth will 
bite sinners. "The Word of God is quick 
and powerful and sharper than any two-edged 
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder 
of soul and spirit, and of the joints and mar- 
row, and is a discerner of the thoughts and 
intents of the heart." I notice by the study 
of the Word of God that a little confession 
has always been necessary. 

Isaiah cried out to God : "I am all undone." 
David said: "I have sinned." Paul con- 
fessed himself the chief of sinners. 

So in the text of our sermon to-day : "They 
confessed their sins." 

You may think that a very simple thing to 
do, but wait till you try it. It is easy enough, 



HEVIVAL SERMONS. 



123 



to be sure, to confess the sins of somebody 
else, but it tries a fellow for all he is worth to 
confess his own sins. But I am for the man 
that, when he does wrong, has principle 
enough to confess it ; and it takes a man of 
some principle to publicly confess his own 
sins. There are people in the world who con- 
fess the sins of the whole community, save 
their own. 

It doesn't take a great deal of brains, nor 
scarcely any common sense, to confess the 
sins of your neighbors. Give some people 
about three ounces of the devil in their heart, 
and one-fourth of an ounce of brains in their 
head; and one such person can confess the 
sins of the whole county, but it never benefits 
the county, neither does it bring the confessor 
any nearer to Christ. But in the case before 
us, they confessed their own sins, every man 
became in earnest concerning his own soul's 
salvation. The question was not, how about 
the sins of the whole country? But each one 
seemed anxious to measure himself by the 
divine standard. 

Have I set the right kind of an example 
before the world? Have I kept the faith? 



124 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



Have I been true to God? Doubtless God 
was pressing such questions upon their hearts, 
and their anxiety to do better waxed stronger 
and stronger, until they made a scriptural 
confession, that means, a confession of a man's 
own sins rather than his neighbor's; also, a 
confession that will bring a man to repen- 
tance. Bible confession makes a man con- 
fess with his lips the sentiments of his heart. 
So with the Israelites, — they made a confes- 
sion that led them to repentance, and I re- 
gard that as a very essential point. They 
might have held their meeting, made a sur- 
face confession, without any great profit. A 
man may confess that he has done wrong, 
but manifest no spirit of regret for such wrong. 
He may say, I have sinned against God, but 
I am not in the least grieved for so doing." 
That kind of confession may possibly get a 
man in sight of the gates of heaven, but, re- 
member, he will never get inside. 

We learn, in the lesson before us, that they 
not only confessed, but repented in sack-cloth 
and in the dust of the earth— the Jewish mode 
of expressing sorrow and penitence. They 
had sinned against God and man, and now, 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



125 



in the humblest way possible, they make con- 
fession. 

We learn in the previous chapter that Ezra 
opened the book in the sight of all the peo- 
ple, and blessed the Lord; and all the people 
answered, Amen, Amen ! 

I always think a meeting is making some 
headway when I hear the brethren say, 
"Amen." 

I notice, in conclusion, that this meeting 
which caused them to confess their sins, re- 
pent of their wrongs, and read the Word of 
the Lord, left them in the best possible condi- 
tion to worship God; and I find that every 
one began to praise God for his goodness. 
They said : 4 ' Let us stand up and bless the 
Lord forever and ever." Again they ex- 
claimed: "Blessed be Thy glorious name." 
They declare that God is gracious and merci- 
ful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. 
Such has always been the case. As soon as 
a man meets the requirements of God, he will 
find some reason to praise God. I have no 
doubt that these people had been dissatisfied 
with God's peculiar way in dealing with men. 
They had, perhaps, found fault, time and 



126 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



again, but now they stand and declare: "All 
the nations everywhere ought to praise God 
for his goodness." And if you will give me 
the date when the whole world will accept 
Christ, I will tell you when the whole world 
will be found praising God ; for as sure as 
there is a God in heaven, all saved men find 
a warm place in their heart for Christ. They 
will stand like the apostle of old, and say : "I 
would rather suffer all things than hinder the 
Gospel of Christ." 

Brethren, let us profit by this lesson. Re- 
member they worshiped God, not man, nor 
any principle of man, neither the earth be- 
low, nor the planets above, angels, nor arch- 
angels, but they worshiped God. May God 
speed the time when the nations of the earth 
will be found worshiping God. God must 
rule in State and in Nation. His laws must 
govern the homes, and His spirit live in the 
hearts of men. The command has rolled 
down through the centuries of the past : 
"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God," and 
there is not a civilized country in the world 
to-day that can prosper any length of time 
where God is not worshiped. 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



127 



Men may move an army, kings a nation , 
to engage in war, but none save the eternal 
God can move the world toward heaven; 
and to accomplish this, God must be wor- 
shiped. The whole book of Revelation is 
urging the world to worship God. It is writ- 
ten in the old, as well as the new, testament 
scriptures — worship God. 

Every book in this Bible demands of us 
that we worship God. The suffering of Jesus, 
the atonement of Christ, the command to 
preach the Gospel, have all been given that 
men might worship God. 

And now, brethren, if you are not in a con- 
dition to worship God in the true sense, while 
we arise and sing, meet me around the altar, 
and we will see the results of a little confessing. 



SERMON VIII. 



Text. — u For God so loved the world that He gave His 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him 
should not perish, but. have everlasting life." — John 
iii, 16. 



IffjjpHIS Bible is a wonderful book. It is 



reveal Himself to the world through this book. 
It is the only book He has ever placed before 
us ; and the greatest, as well as the weakest 
and most humble, must go to this book to 
learn of God. Doubtless God could have 
placed hundreds of volumes before us, but He 
has seen proper to place all that it is necessary 
for us to know concerning the way of life in 
this one book. 

There is enough salvation represented in 
this Blessed Word, to save the last man who 
walks the face of the earth before the rising of 




God has seen proper to 



128 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



129 



to-morrow's sun, if men would accept it as it 
is. If you want to learn the way of life ever- 
lasting, you must go to the Word ; if you are 
anxious concerning the future, here in God's 
Word you will find instruction; if you would 
like to know something of the extent of Gos- 
pel power, here it is : 6 4 For I am not ashamed 
of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of 
God unto salvation, unto every one that be- 
believeth." If you are anxious to know how 
much God loves you, open your Bible and 
read: 4 4 For God so loved the world that he 
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
lieveth in him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life." 

If you have loved ones who have crossed the 
swelling Jordan with full faith in Jesus, and 
you would like to know something concerning 
their present condition, just read the words: 
"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, 
from henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that 
they may rest from their labors, and their 
works do follow them." This is a book of 
blessed promises. Scarcely a page on this 
book void of one or more blessed promises 
that God has made to us. They run like a 



130 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



golden chain from Genesis to Revelation, each 
link holding fast in its embrace some beauti- 
ful promise of future life for all who love the 
Savior. 

These promises are, in one sense, like the 
promises we make to one another, that is, 
they are conditional. The father promises 
his child a reward, providing the child com- 
plies with his request. So God's promises 
are necessarily conditional, which, in my judg- 
ment, increases rather than decreases the 
spirit of love. If God would sa}^ to the world : 
"Go on in sin, trample beneath your feet all 
my promises, and I will at last give you a 
home with all the redeemed in heaven;" 
that, in the true sense, would not be love; for 
any spirit or principle that evades justice, is 
not the true spirit of love ; consequently God's 
promises are all conditional. "Whosoever 
cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." 

That promise will not profit any man who 
fails to come. u As Moses lifted up the ser- 
pent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man 
is lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him 
might not perish, but have everlasting life." 
That promise is for those only who believe, 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



131 



Again, I read : "If my people who are called 
by my name, will humble themselves and 
pray, and seek my face, then will I hear from 
heaven and forgive their sin, and heal their 
land." But this has no reference whatever 
to those who heed not the Word. 

And here in our text, brethren, we have a 
most wonderful statement concerning God's 
love to man ; and right in connection with 
this statement we have a promise sufficiently 
strong within itself to save every poor soul in 
the universe, though it be the only promise in 
the Bible. 

The statement is sufficient within itself, 
though there be no other in the Bible to show, 
beyond all contradiction, that God's love far 
exceeds all human conception. The state- 
ment is that: "God so loved the world that 
he gave his only begotten Son" ; then the 
promise links right on to the statement, that 
whosoever believeth in him, should not per- 
ish, but have everlasting life. Did you ever 
read of anything like that? A promise so 
great in its design, and broad enough in its 
extent to reach over the entire world ; and 
God makes this promise right in connection 



132 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



with the statement, just as though he were 
trying to take the world in his own arms, and 
with the divine link of love, link it to Jesus, 
the Savior of the world. 

Indeed, I think that was God's design. 
He had no other purpose in view when he 
gave his son to die for the world, only to re- 
deem a fallen race. Man was perishing, the 
human family was dying, and, notwithstand- 
ing the fact that man had voluntarily reached 
his helpless condition, yet God's great heart 
of love was moved with sympathy, and he be- 
gins to prepare a way for the restoration of 
man. His great design was to restore the 
race to the image of God, that we might not 
perish, but have eternal life in the world to 
come. The means by which he executed 
this design, we find in the text : " For God so 
loved the world that He gave his only begot- 
ten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

I read, somewhere, a story of a sinking 
ship. The announcement was made ; the men 
are soon busy; the pumps are at work; but 
they are not able to pump out the water as 
fast as it enters by the leak. The only hope 



HEVIVAL SERMONS. 



133 



for the safety of the vessel is that some one 
will give his life in order to save the ship. 
The captain called for volunteers ; in less than 
a minute one man stepped forward and said, 
"I will go down and stop the leak." He 
went, and worked until completely exhausted. 
He succeeded in stopping the leak. The 
ship grew lighter and lighter, and was soon 
out of danger. 

The captain said : "Let us go down and see 
about our man." They went down to the 
third deck, and saw his body floating on the 
water; they brought him up and embalmed 
his body; and when land was reached, they 
carried it ashore and buried it; and the spot 
was marked by a tombstone, on which was 
inscribed the epitaph : ' 'This friend gave his 
life that all of us might live •" and the names 
of those he saved were all engraved below. 
And they bless the memory of that man, and 
say: "If he had not died, we should all have 
been lost." So when the waves of death 
were dashing against the old ship, Humanity, 
and this world was about to sink forever, God 
called for volunteers. Jesus appeared before 
the Father, and said: "Father, I will go." 



134 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



And he came, and is soon in the midst of the 
old ship, Humanity, and with arms out- 
stretched, he holds the world above the raging 
storm. The earth trembles, while God seems 
to stand in the gateway of heaven, pointing 
to the "Sun of Righteousness," and exclaims 
to the nations of the earth : "For God so loved 
the world." 

The vail of the temple was rent in twain 
from the top to the bottom; the voice of the 
Father is still heard saying : 6 6 For God so loved 
the world." Earth and heaven seemed draped 
in mourning, the earth is all dark ; but, me- 
thinks, I hear the Father's voice still repeating 
the words: "For God so loved the world." 
The rocks were rent, and graves were opened 
while the Father is still crj 7 ing: "For God so 
loved the world." On and on the storm of 
sorrow rages, until the mighty cloud of dark- 
ness spreads over all the world ; and during 
these three long hours of intense darkness, 
God was still pointing to his Son, and saying 
to perishing humanity, "For God so loved 
the world." Then I can see the Savior, who 
is fast sinking beneath the blackness of the 
world's sin, look intensely toward the Father j 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



135 



then, in words that almost rend his heart, he 
exclaims : "It is finished I" Then God seems 
to walk out upon the door-sill of everlasting 
life, take one look at the world, then acid the 
remainder of this verse : "That whosoever be- 
lieveth in Him, should not perish, but have 
everlasting life." Glory be to God ! 

The storm is over ; the clouds pass away ; 
darkness is turned to light; not one soul in 
all the world need be lost. Heaven and eter- 
nal life are within the reach of all. Oh ! how 
I wish I had the power to hold up before the 
world this one passage of Scripture. Read it, 
preach it, talk about it, pray over it, until 
every soul in the universe could see something 
of the height and the depth of God's eternal 
love; for I tell you to-day, I firmly believe if 
the vilest sinner that walks among men could 
be brought to hear these words daily ringing 
in his ears, he certainly would be constrained 
to give his heart to Jesus. 

It has been said that there is no love like 
that of a mother ; and as far as human love 
is concerned, it is true. The mother will 
make sacrifices for her children that others 
will not; and even though her children will 



136 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



not obey her voice, yet she will daily bear 
them on her arms of pra} 7 er to the throne of 
grace. If her boy is in prison, she will visit 
him there. Friends and neighbors ma) 7 pass 
the jail, wholly unconcerned. He is a crim- 
inal now, and forsaken by his associates, yet 
the mother of that boy will visit the cell and 
try to cheer the heart of her boy. 

You remember the case of Maxwell, the 
murderer of Preller, at St. Louis. How his 
mother came thousands of miles over land and 
sea, how she appeared before the Governor, 
and plead for the life of her son, who was still 
so dear to her. She told the Governor that 
he had always been a good boy at home, and 
how near he was to her ; then in her closing 
remarks said: ' ' Governor, I plead that 3^ou 
will save my boy from the gallows." This 
case represents a mother's love; but here in 
my Bible I find a love far exceeding the com- 
prehension of man. Jesus, the Son of God 
pleading, and, at the same time, dying for 
those who are putting him to death. Oh ! 
wonderful story of love ! Who can grasp it? 

The whole combined world cannot measure 
the height of God's love. It is like the mighty 



revival sermons. 



137 



river that goes winding its way around the 
mountain side, refreshed by many other 
streams, until it sweeps all before it. Even 
as Noah's ark prevailed over the highest 
mountain top of earth, so Christ's love pre- 
vails over the highest mountain top of our 
sins, reaching men's hearts everywhere, and 
drawing them into the great ocean of God's 
love; preparing them for heaven and ever- 
lasting life. Who can measure His infinite 
love ? 

If every blade of grass that grows could be 
multiplied by every little flower that blossoms 
on the earth, and that product by every drop 
of water that has fallen from the clouds, and 
that by every flake of snow that has fallen 
from above, then multiply by every grain of 
sand in the broad world, and we will only 
have a mite as compared with the love of God. 
Oh ! that all of us who have tasted of the love 
of Christ may go in the spirit of Him who 
died on Calvar)/, and help convince the world 
that God loves them, and that He loves them 
so much, that He gave his only Son, for no 
other purpose than to provide a way of life 
for poor, guilty man. ' ' Greater love hath no 



138 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



man than this, that a man lay down his life 
for his friends;" but Jesus laid down his life 
for his enemies. 

You remember when the Apostle Paul was 
preaching along this line, he became very 
anxious to have those to whom he preached 
to understand how much God loved them. 
He sees at once that he has not that power 
within himself, so he kneels and prays that 
God may help them to comprehend some- 
thing, at least, of the love of God. He adds 
in this prayer that "Christ may dwell in 
your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and 
grounded in love, may be able to comprehend 
with all saints what is the breadth and length 
and depth and height, and to know the love 
of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye 
might be filled with all the fullness of God. 
Oh, what a prayer thjs is ! That God might 
so dwell in them that they might at least 
know something of the matchless and mar- 
velous love of Christ, which passeth knowl- 
edge. 

"In the year 1867," sa } 7S R- ev - D. L. 
Moody, u a young man journeyed from Dub- 
lin to America, went to Chicago to begin a 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



139 



series of meetings. The first night he se- 
lected for his text, John iii, 16 : ' For God so 
loved the world.' He went from Genesis to 
Revelation, and preached that God in all 
ages had loved sinners. The second night 
he made choice of the same text, and so on 
for seven nights. The congregation won- 
dered, night after night, what more could be 
said about the love of God. In closing the 
seventh sermon he said: 'Brethren, I have 
been trying for seven nights to tell yon how 
much God loves you, but this poor, stammer- 
ing tongue of mine will not let me.' And 
then he added: 'If I could ascend Jacob's 
ladder, and ask Gabriel, who stands in the 
presence of the Almight}', how much God 
loved this poor, lost world, he would say : 
'For God so loved the world, that He gave 
His only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
lieveth in Him, should not perish, but have 
everlasting life.' " 

And now let me ask this congregation, 
have you any doubt that God loves you? If 
Jesus Christ is not a Savior of love, tell me 
who it was that stood before poor, mortal man, 
and said : " It is not the will of my Father that 



140 &EVIVAL SE&MONg. 

one of these little ones should perish ?" If 
Jesus Christ is not a Savior of love, tell me 
who it was that walked over the hills and 
plains of Palestine offering peace and consola- 
tion to all? If Jesus Christ was not a Savior 
of love, who was it that stood before the 
downcast and the depressed, and said, in ten- 
der words : ' 6 Come unto me all ye that labor 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
rest?" If Jesus Christ is not a Savior of love, 
tell me who it was that stopped the burial 
procession, lifted his voice to the Father, and 
caused a widow's only son to leap from a cof- 
fin and embrace his mother? If Jesus Christ 
is not a Savior of love, who was it that 
prayed in the garden till great drops of sweat 
like blood stood all over His face? Yes, who 
was it that hung bleeding and dying on the 
cross, in the midst of darkness, that no tongue 
can describe, and all the while praying for the 
salvation of men? The answer comes: u It 
was Jesus!" What does it all mean? It 
means: " For God so loved the world, that 
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life." 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



14] 



When a great man was dying, a friend 
said to him : "You are soon to leave us ; will 
you tell me what is to you the most wonder- 
ful verse in the Bible?" He whispered: 
"For God so loved the world, that He gave 
His only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
lieveth in Him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life." Well, I thank God for 
that "whosoever;" that covers the whole 
ground. It embraces all colors, men of all 
ranks and shades of opinion ; it embraces 
every child of man, save the unbeliever; it 
reaches as high as heaven, as deep as the 
verge of perdition ; it is as wide as the uni- 
verse, and as durable as the everlasting ages 
to come. And Oh ! what an awful thing to 
see a man die without Christ, with this text 
hanging over him. Yes, the Word says : 
"Whosoever believeth may have everlasting 
life." That does not mean life for one hun- 
dred years; it does not mean one thousand 
years; it has no reference to a million years. 
It means what it says : " everlasting" God 
lays hold of the gates of eternity, and by His 
own matchless power throws them wide open, 
and shows the world a measureless period of 



142 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



happiness, and says it belongs to the children 
of God. 

I have tried, sometimes, to fathom the 
word "everlasting" or eternity; but like the 
little child who sits upon the carpet 'trying to 
pick up the stripe of sunshine that beams 
through the crevice of the door, it tries and 
tries, but every time its little hand comes back 
empty. So I have tried to grasp with my 
mind the duration of eternity; my mind goes 
on and on, but always comes back empty. 
It is like measuring the distance to the sun ; 
you may measure on and on, until it seems 
that all is infinite space. So you may en- 
deavor to measure the duration of eternity, 
but after exhausting every faculty of your 
understanding, you only reach the dawn. 
Millions of years may pass away, but it only 
represents eternity commenced. Then think 
what it will be to spend this eternity with God, 
then think of God's infinite love to you in the 
gift of His Son, that you might have life that 
knows no end. 

I have sometimes thought, if it were possible 
I would like to take passage in a car that runs 
directly to heaven. I imagine as I would 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



143 



look from the car window I could see the 
words written on the ends of the ties : 6 4 For 
God so loved the world." And as we would 
journey on through the clouds that hang above 
us, we would see the words : "For God so 
loved the world." Then higher still on the 
dark-blue canopy that overspreads the world, 
I see in large shining letters: "For God so 
loved the world." On we go, until at last 
we are in sight of the walls of the eternal citv : 
and I read, engraved by the divine hand the 
words: "For God so loved the world." Yea, 
methinks I can read over the golden gates : 
"For God so loved the world ;" and as the 
gates swing open, I can see on the beatific 
throne the words: "For God so loved the 
world." The words are written on the crowns 
of the angels in glory: "For God so loved 
the world." 

They are written on the w r ings of seraphim 
and cherubim, and I expect some day to stand 
in the city of God, and read the words as 
they sparkle all around the unshaken walls of 
heaven : "For God so loved the world, that He 
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in Him might not perish, but have 



144 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



everlasting life." And now to-day I come to 
you with this message from God, and with all 
the power I have I urge upon you to make 
this matter a personal one. Remember, that 
Jesus died for you \ as much so, as if you 
were the only person in the world. Think 
of it, my brother, Jesus came all the way from 
heaven to save you. 

u 0, precious Savior, that saves from sin, 
I am so glad I have entered in ; 
There Jesus saves me and keeps me clean, 
Glory, glory to his name! " 



SERMON IX. 



TO YOUNG MEN. 



Subject: — On the Road to Pleasure. 



Text. — "Now the Word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the 
son of Auiittai, saying: 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that 
great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is 
come up before me.' " — Josiah i, 1, 2. 



|HE city of Nineveh was among the great- 



dsb es t of the ancient cities. It is said to 
have numbered at one time 800,000 inhab- 
itants. It was inclosed by a great wall, 600 
feet high, having one thousand and five hun- 
dred towers, reaching two hundred feet to- 
wards the clouds. The city stood on the bank 
of the Tigress river. It was supposed to have 
been built by the descendants of Shem, while 
others of them settled along the shores of the 




145 



146 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



Mediteranean, and became founders of the 
Egyptian Empire. 

I imagine, if you could have seen this city 
of wealth some beautiful spring morning, 
lifting its costly domes high in the morning 
sunlight, you would have said ; this is certainly 
Jerusalem itself. But remember, wherever 
wickedness is the ruling element in any city, 
I care not how costly its buildings, how fine 
the streets, or how high the pinnacles may 
reach, that city loses its beauty in the sight of 
God. It was to this great city, however, that 
the Lord commanded Jonah to go. But this 
prophet, like many of to-day, laid down a 
plan for himself. There is human nature 
enough about all of us to be a little inclined 
to want our own way. God was calling 
Jonah to the city of duty, while the prophet 
wanted to go to the Tarsus of pleasure. 

I imagine I see that tired sun-burnt Jew, 
coming around the hill side with a little bun- 
dle in his hand, perhaps all he owns of this 
world's goods, coming down to Joppa, a great 
shipping point, about 37 miles northwest of 
Jerusalem. He steps on board a vessel, I 
don't think he stops long enough to inquire 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



147 



where it is going, for when a man is seeking 
pleasure, independent of God's help, he don't 
care very much where he goes, so that he pa} r s 
his fare. Well, w r e learn from the Word of 
God, there are a great many people in the 
world who seem to think they have a perfect 
right to do as they please, just so they pay their 
way. 

But I want to say to you, 3'oungman, that no 
man has a scriptural right to pay his way to 
crime and death. There are thousands of young 
men to-day paying their way to premature 
graves. The devil is always ready to take 
fare. He makes the young man believe that 
it is all right to drink, gamble and play cards, 
if he only pays his way. He says, give me 
your mone}' ! I will find pleasure for you ! 
Give me }-our good name, your reputation, 
and I will make you happy ! But, oh, how 
many young men, whose prospects^ for use- 
fulness were most promising, have been led 
by evil influences down the hill, step by step, 
until money, health, good name and reputation 
were all gone, and no pleasure to be found. 

I want to say to all the young men here 
to-night, if you are seeking pleasure in this 



148 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



way, you will see, sooner or later, that it 
has been to the sorrow of your own heart, 
and at the cost of your mother's tears. 

Some years ago a certain boy, in an Eastern 
city, said to his father and mother, I am tired 
of home I There is pleasure in this world for 
those who will seek it, and I propose to en- 
joy life. He stepped on board the train, and 
was soon westward bound. He landed in 
the city of Keokuk, Iowa. He had a fine 
time for awhile, but he finally reached the end 
of his rope. Money and friends were both 
gone. He stands around on the street; the 
police become suspicious of him; he is or- 
dered to leave the city, or go to the lock-up. 
He has not the courage to write home for 
money; he goes up one street and down an- 
other, with a burden greater than he is able 
to bear. Late in the evening, as the shad- 
ows of night are coming on, he walks upon 
the banks of the Mississippi, takes one look 
back toward the old homestead, thinks of the 
kind words of father and mother, then leaps 
into the dark river, and takes his place with 
the unnumbered thousands who have started 
out in life, seeking pleasure. 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



149 



I tell you it is the love of sinful pleasure to- 
day that is dragging multitudes of bright- 
eyed boys and girls from time into eternity. 
This desire , to do wrong has raged like a 
storm in all the past; it has raged in times of 
war and in times of peace; in times of pros- 
perity and in times of depression ; among the 
civilized and among the savages ; it has taken 
the plowman from his plow and the merchant 
from his store; the mechanic fiom his bench 
and the banker from his desk; the newsbo}^ 
from the street, the orphan girl from her 
home, andcast them all into one commonruin, 
while Jesus stands with outstretched arms, 
reaching and pleading: "O, how often I 
would have gathered you together, as a hen 
gathereth her brood under her wings, but ye 
would not." 

Young people sometimes scorn the idea 
of surrendering up sinful pleasures in order to 
become Christians. They say the road to 
pleasure is the easiest and most desirable to 
travel on. This is a very great mistake; but 
suppose it to be true, the easiest way is not 
always the most successful, neither the most 
desirable. 



150 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



Let me illustrate : Two men journeyed 
into the far West ; twenty years pass away ; 
they decide to return and visit their old home. 
The circumstances of one are quite limited, 
he must make the long journey on foot ; the 
other is in easy circumstances, so, with his 
match team and costly carriage ; O, how he 
enjoys the trip ; the weather is nice, the roads 
are smooth ; a few weeks pass away, and he 
drives up to the spot where he had spent his 
boyhood days, but, to his surprise, corn is 
growing where the old homestead used to 
stand. He drives on to the next house, and 
inquires as to the whereabouts of father and 
mother. He is informed that they have been 
dead these five years; the farm has changed 
hands. He bathes his face in tears, and I 
hear him say : "I had a very pleasant journey, 
but failed to find homey But yonder in the 
distance comes the other one, trudging his 
way along all by himself. He is tired and 
weary; he thinks of the many miles that are 
yet before him, but as he thinks of the old 
home he continues to keep up courage. At 
last he turns the corner, enters the lane that 
leads to the old home ; the road is muddy. 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



151 



his feet feel so heavy, but all at once his eye 
catches a glimpse of the light in the window; 
he increases the rapidity of his steps, and 
when he reaches the gate looks through the 
window; there, seated by the stand, is his 
mother, with knitting in hand, close by her 
side sits the gray-headed father who is read- 
ing the old family Bible. The weary traveler 
could wait no longer ; he throws wide open 
the gate, runs with all his might to the front 
door, does not even stop to rap, but pushes 
open the door, throws his arms about his 
mother's neck and exclaims: "Mother, I 
have had a long, tiresome journey, but, thank 
God, I have succeeded in reaching home I" 

So let me say just here, that any road that 
leads a man to miss his heavenly home, I 
don't care how smooth it may seem, it is too 
rough for me. But I can stand a very rough 
road if it only leads me home. 

But some of you may be wondering now 
what caused this prophet to want to wander 
away from God. Well, I have sometimes 
thought he came to the conclusion that he 
was able to take care of himself, and Jonah is 
not the only man who has ever lived who 



152 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



thought himself able to get along without any 
of God's help; but, as a rule, all such fall into 
temptation and are soon hurried into eternity, 
without hope. It is possible, in Jonah's 
case, that he didn't stop to think. He de- 
cided, on the spur of the moment, not to obey 
the voice of God. 

You know many of us will do and say 
things sometimes in an unguarded moment 
that we would not, after due consideration. 
And I believe to-day that that is the key which 
unlocks the mystery why so many people 
wander away from God. They don't stop to 
think. And the man who lives a Christless 
life dies a Christless death, and is wrapped in 
a Christless shroud, placed in a Christless cof- 
fin, and laid away in a Christless grave, is the 
man that don't think. If we conld only get 
men to think as God wants them to think, 
we would soon see a great change in this 
country. Men would no longer be seen reel- 
ing on the street, God's name would not be 
taken in vain, Sabbath desecration would be 
at an end, while morality and virtue would 
clasp hands wtth each other and move out in 
society to save the world. Thousands of 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



153 



miserable, dark, unhappy homes would be 
turned into sunshine and joy, while our alms- 
houses, jails and penitentiaries would soon 
all stand as so many monuments of the vices 
of an age gone by. O, that God might help 
us to think ! 

Do you see those children playing out in 
that lot? The mother steps to the fence to 
see if they are in danger. They are only en- 
gaged in playing an innocent game of blind- 
fold. But the mother trembles as she cries 
out to her ten year old child: "Mary, for 
God's sake, don't you take another step!" 
Right within four feet of the blindfolded child 
there was an open well containing ten feet of 
water. The mother said, in trembling tones : 
"Children, what do you mean? Do you not 
see this open well? One more step and my 
child would have been gone forever." 
"Well," said her daughter, Mary, in inno- 
cent tones, "mother, we didn't think of the 
danger," which was the truth in the case. 
But some of you sinners are saying here to- 
night, those children were rather short-sighted. 
It may be true, but how about your own 
case ? 



154 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



The devil has, for 6,000 }7ears, been blind- 
folding mankind, and is still at it, and I will 
venture the assertion that there is some fellow 
right here in this house to-night that is having 
a game of blindfold with the devil, and if you 
are not very careful, brother, the devil will 
get the game. I step down from this pulpit, 
I hold up before you the Word of God, and 
read to you that in order for a man to be 
saved he must be converted. But the devil 
comes along and blindfolds your eyes, and 
says: "Don't you believe that." I read 
again that the wicked shall be cast into a lake 
of fire. The devil whispers and says : "Don't 
let that preacher make you believe that j there 
is not one particle of danger." Now, my 
friends, that is the way the devil plays blind- 
fold with men. I tell you, sir, the open pit 
is right before you, and there is no curbing 
around it either, and if you allow the devil to 
continue blindfolding your eyes, you'll tum- 
ble in, sooner or later. You remember that 
God said to the inhabitants of the Old World : 
"My spirit shall not always strive with man." 

He called upon Noah to go forth and in- 
vite men to saving mercy, Noah obeved the 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



155 



voice, and for more than a hundred years he 
plead with mankind to accept the way. Dur- 
ing all this time the devil was hard at work 
blindfolding the eyes of men. He urged men 
to believe that there would not be any storm, 
and he kept on urging them until he had the 
whole world, save eight persons, playing 
blindfold. But God's word was still ringing 

CD O 

in their ears — the danger is coming ; and sure 
enough the storm began. It raged on and 
on; the oceans broke over their banks, the 
water poured from above, the lightning 
flashed, the thunder roared, until the last sin- 
ner cursed God and sank down. Then the 
devil smiled and said : "I got them all, but 
eight." 

And now, my friends, he is still engaged 
in the same old trick. I read from the Word 
of God that some day this world is to be de- 
stroyed ; that as it was in the days of Noah, 
so it shall be in the days of the coming of the 
Son of Man. But the devil whispers in your 
ear and says: "Don't you believe it." My 
unconverted friend, you had better believe it. 
Some of you are very close to the burning 
lake ; one more step and you may be lost for- 



156 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



ever. Oh ! will you not to-night, for the sake 
of your own best interests, for the sake of 
Christ, who died to save you, and for the sake 
of j^our own souPs salvation, come to Jesus? 
Every day that you put this matter off you 
are that much harder to reach and that much 
further from God. 

Near the top of one of the highest summits 
of the Rocky Mountains, more than ten thou- 
sand feet above the sea, are two fountains 
where two streams issue forth. One goes 
eastward, around the hills and across the 
plains, receiving fresh impulse from a hun- 
dred other streams, and finally through the 
Gulf into the Ocean. The other goes west- 
ward to the Pacific coast, and there, amidst 
the crested waves of the roaring sea, finds a 
home that's never still. When these two 
streams started they were close together ; you 
could have cast a stone from one to the other ; 
just a little effort would have started them in 
the same direction ; but now, to go from the 
terminus of one to the terminus of the other, 
you must travel 5,000 miles. 

Methinks I see two boys start out, one 
seeking the Tarsus of pleasure, the other the 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



157 



Nineveh of duty. Fifteen years pass away, 
when I see the former one looking from the 
prison cell, the other standing in the sanctuary 
of God, and with His Word before him he 
reasons of righteousness, and of temperance, 
and of judgment to come, with such power 
as to cause many to turn and seek the way of 
life. Morally speaking, they are 5,000 miles 
apart. A word of encouragement at the right 
time, a warm grip of the hand, might have 
started them both in the right direction. O, 
that God might help us to-day to think as we 
ought to think — do as we ought to do, and 
then most assuredly we can bring these young 
people to Christ. 

Some years ago, when D. L. Moody was 
at Liverpool, a poor, broken-hearted mother 
came to speak to him concerning her boy. 
She said he was 19 years of age, was a reck- 
less boy, and had strayed from home ; said 
she was afraid she would never see him again. 
She had his photograph, which she gave to 
him, and said: "It may be, sometime, as 
you stand before large assemblies, j t ou may 
see him. If you do, tell him to come back; 
urge him to come back to his sorrowing 



158 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



mother." She wrote his full name on the 
back of the picture. Mr. Moody often spoke 
of the case to his congregations, and many 
times called out his name, but never found 
the boy. Now, young men, this boy was 
seeking pleasure, seeking it independent of 
God's will, seeking it at the cost of his 
mother's tears. We do not know where he 
is to-night. He may be in the prison, he 
may be in eternity. I do not know. But I 
am here to-night, and by the authority of Al- 
mighty God I offer you a salvation that will 
make you love your home, love your parents, 
love God's own Son, who died to save you, 
and will give you a home at last in that land 
that is fairer than day. 

Some months ago as a train was dashing 
across the country, the conductor rang the 
bell, the engineer whistled down brakes, the 
train was brought to a standstill, drops of 
blood spattered the car window, the passen- 
gers hurried out ; a moment later it was re- 
ported that a tramp had been killed ; men 
moved back into the cars, some telling jokes, 
others lighting their cigars, and said, in light 
tones ; "Nothing serious ; just killed a tramp, 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



159 



that's all." But come with me, if you will, 
and I will take you to a nice country home, 
where five years before, a kind mother, who 
loved her boy, followed him to the gate, 
placed her arms gently around his neck, 
kissed him good bye, and said: "Son, be a 
good boy, keep yourself in good company, 
and try to be a man." She watched him 
until he was well nigh out of sight, when she 
walked slowly back to her room again, won- 
dering what the future of her boy would be. 
He soon fell into bad company, visited the 
saloons, spent whole nights in gambling 
rooms, became very much dissipated, turned 
out a tramp, and was killed. The world ex- 
claims : "Nothing serious; just a tramp!" 
But that poor mother walks the floor at the 
midnight hour, bathes her face in tears which 
are wrung from her very heart, and exclaims : 
"Oh, my son, my son ! How can I give him 
up?" We have in this another example of 
a young man seeking worldly pleasure. 

But permit me to mention one other point 
concerning the case of Jonah. He never 
reached his place of destination. He was 
overtaken in a great storm, and only saved 



160 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



through the providence of God. And I am 
here to tell you to-night that the storm is still 
raging, and every man who is traveling a 
road contrary to the one God has laid down 
for him to travel on, he may expect to be 
overtaken in the storm ; the clouds are gath- 
ering in the west, the heavens are growing 
black, the vivid flashes of lightning may soon 
be seen, while the lonesome moan of the 
thunder comes moving across our land like 
the roaring of many waters or the rumbling 
of many chariots ; closer and closer the storm 
is coming, until all who forsake God shall fall 
beneath His power. 

Look at the unsaved souls around us ! My 
brother, what is going to become of them? 
Where are they all going? I cannot tell 
where in this life. But one thing I know, 
they are all journeying to the judgment bar 
of God, and as sure as there is a God in 
heaven they must every one accept Christ as 
their Savior, or be lost forever. And if the 
words of our Savior are true, one soul is of 
more value than all the world. For what is 
a man profited, if he shall gain the whole 
world and lose his own soul? 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



161 



If all nature could grow vocal, she could 
not utter a word of sorrow sad enough to ex- 
press the awful thought of a soul being lost. 
God help us, as a church, to get in earnest 
about the unsaved around us. They are here 
to-night, without one glimmering ray of hope 
beyond the tomb, while just across the way 
the angel of death is coming, coming with a 
rapidity beyond our power to describe, hur- 
rying into eternity 38,000,000 of souls every 
year, to stand before the God of justice, who 
can only say : u No man who has lived with- 
out Christ can enter into the kingdom of 
God." 

Do you see that young man going down 
the Niagara river? What a pleasant trip he 
seems to be having; how he seems to enjoy 
the ride. His parents and many friends are 
looking from the shore, some one remarks 
the young man is in danger. u O, no!" says 
another, "I have gone further down than 
that." A moment later the father speaks, 
and says: "Son, you are in danger." But 
he waves his hand, and smiles at his father, 
and glides noislessly on. A few seconds 
more and he strikes the dead line ; the boat 



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REVIVAL SERMONS. 



is seized by the current and shot like an arrow 
down towards the falls. He seizes a project- 
ing rock, and cries for help. Hundreds of peo- 
ple are on the banks of the river anxious to 
save him, but none can reach him. Hour 
after hour passes away ; he clings to a cleft in 
the rock until his strength gives way; then, 
with one look toward his friends, he utters a 
shriek of despair and is hurried over the falls 
into eternity. And who knows but there are 
those in this house to-night whose condition 
is equally as critical? You have resisted the 
words of warning from your parents, the 
words of the minister have proved in vain. 
You are still in your sins, and every day is 
bringing you nearer the gulf of despair. You 
will soon be on your dying bed, and perhaps 
will send for the minister, but, like the young 
man who is clinging to the rock, help will not 
be within your reach. The minister arrives 
too late. The family gathers around the bed ; 
a moment of breathless stillness prevails, when 
the dying man whispers: "The harvest is 
past, the summer is ended, and my soul is 
not saved." Poor man. He was like the 
prophet on the road to pleasure, but defeated 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



163 



in his plans. O, I would to God that I 
might say some word to move the hearts of 
the unsaved to Jesus. It was God who was 
calling Jonah to arise, and God is calling you 
to-night. He is calling by the voice of the 
ministry, calling through the press, calling 
through the church, calling by the voice of 
His own dear Son, calling by His Spirit. 
Will you not hear the call and obey the voice 
just now? In the name of God, the Father, 
and in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son, in 
the name of the angels in glory, and for the 
sake of Christ, who died to save you, I urge 
you to yield this moment to the call of God. 

Let us stand and sing : 6 4 Why do you wait, 
clear brother?" 



SERMON X. 



A CONTINUATION OF SERMON IX. 

Subject: — "On the Road to Pleasure." 



OU may wonder why I come before you 
again to-night with another message for 
the young. Some of you are doubtless say- 
ing in your hearts : 6 6 Why don't the preacher 
change off for a few nights? Then if he 
wants to preach a second sermon to young 
people, all right, but we like variety." All 
very true, but should I decline preaching to 
the young to-night it might be the last op- 
portunity I would ever have, and should an 
opportunity be given I might not be in the 
proper spirit to do so. But that is not all. 

I feel impressed that God is now urging me 
to draw the Gospel bow and fire the arrow of 
sacred truth to the hearts of the young. I 
never was in better condition in all my life 

164 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



165 



to warn you of your danger and to press the 
mighty truths of a once dead, but now resur- 
rected Savior upon the hearts of the young 
than I am at this moment, and if you people 
here, at Edwardsville, ever expect to see this 
sermon in print, you had better meet the 
short-hand reporter in the morning and help 
him to remember, for I see he is working with 
all his might, and I have not the faintest idea 
that he will be able to follow me to-night, for 
I do talk fast, when I am so powerfully it} 
earnest as I am at the present time. 

You see I am only a young man myself, 
hence I am familiar with the trials and temp- 
tations of young men, but I can lay my hand 
upon my heart, and thank God this very mo- 
ment that I was never led astray into profan- 
ity, intemperance and gambling, like thou- 
sands of others have been, and like some of 
my most intimate associates. Young people 
forget that the)' are forming their habits while 
they are young. They seem to think that it 
does'nt matter much what kind of habits they 
form, as they can easily change them when 
they get older. But I am here to tell you 
to-night that the habits you are now forming 



166 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



will go with you all through life. Early im- 
pressions are lasting. 

In conversation with a man afewda} 7 s ago, 
who is sixty (60) years of age, he said : 
"That the impressions that were clinging 
the closest to him to-day, are those of early 
life." And John B. Gough once remarked, 
with all the power his great soul was capable 
of, that he would give his right arm, if he 
could forget the evil impressions that were 
made upon his mind in childhood. And you 
have doubtless seen the old man reeling on 
the street. He started out a young man, one 
day, on the road to pleasure, expecting to sow 
a few wild oats, after which time he would 
change his habits and form better ones. But 
all in vain. Habits once formed will fasten 
to you as the serpent coils around the branch 
of a tree. The old have their habits formed, 
and no power of man, and very seldom the 
power of God, will ever change them. 

So I desire to urge 3 7 ou, every one, to make 
up your mind to form such habits as will help 
you in living the most useful life. Never al- 
low yourself for one moment to form habits 
detrimental to your best spiritual interests, 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



167 



thinking some day to be able to shake off 
those habits and form better ones. The 
chances are greatly against you. There is 
said to be only about one person in a thou- 
sand converted above the age of 30 years ; one 
in two thousand above the age of 40. I tell 
you when the devil leads a man thirty or 
forty years, he will most likely lead him the 
remainder of his days. 

You have noticed advertisements, where 
great inducements have been offered to secure 
patronage ; but some of you have said, it is 
too risky, only stand one chance out of a 
hundred to get the prize. But look here ! 
God is offering you the wealth of heaven. It 
is no drawing establishment either. It is 
based on that which is absolutely certain. 
There is no risk whatever. You may this 
moment accept the word of life, and become 
an heir of heaven's wealth. But don't } 7 ou 
know, while this is true, that millions upon 
millions have put this matter off, until they 
only have one chance in two thousand to gain 
the prize. I call that a pretty slim chance. 

Let us form a line. Here it is. Two thou- 
sand strong. Every man forty years of age. 



168 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



What is the prospect for heaven? Well, sup- 
posing that you average up with other men, 
there is a chance for one out of the whole two 
thousand to be saved. "Oh ! " but says one, 
u can they not all be saved? " Yes, but sta- 
tistics go to show that thfcy will not. When 
men reach that age they seldom turn around, 
form new habits, and start over ; hence I 
want to say to every young person under the 
hearing of my voice, that if you are not saved, 
and influenced to cultivate religious princi- 
ples while you are young, the chances are 
against you. May God give you the courage 
to decide for Christ and His cause, while the 
possibilities of life are before you ! 

There are so many roads of apparent pleas- 
ure for the young men of to-day that, even 
though they do escape one, they are so liable 
to enter another. 

The first road I notice that is so much 
against any young man, is the road of pro- 
fanily. I hope, if there are those here who 
are traveling on this road, that you will not 
be offended at me for telling you that you 
ought to be ashamed of yourself. I pity the 
young man who has formed such a habit. He 



Revival sermons. 



169 



is miserable to himself, as well as to those 
around him. 

A certain minister with whom I am ac- 
quainted once used an illustration something 
like this : The devil catches men like we 
catch fish. When he wants to catch a thief, he 
baits his hook with a silver dollar ; of course 
the thief cannot resist the temptation, so he 
bites and gets the dollar. He has done 
wrong, to be sure, but feels to a certain ex- 
tent compensated. When the devil wants to 
catch a drunkard, he hangs on a bottle of 
liquor, and, of course, the drunkard bites. 
But when he wants a man to swear, what do 
you suppose he baits his hook with? He 
baits it on nothing, and there are some men 
just foolish enough to bite anyhow. 

The point is simply this — there is no profit 
whatever for any man to gain by profanity. 
Did you ever hear a man say: "I love that 
young man because he can swear?" No, sir; 
I know you never did. Let two young men of 
like capabilities enter a store to look after a 
position. You may accompany them, intro- 
duce them to the proprietor, tell him they are 
equally competent for the work, have habits 



170 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



alike, except one of the young men uses pro- 
fanity, while the other does not. Who do 
you think he would employ? You all well 
know, even though the proprietor be a profane 
man himself, he will make choice of him who 
thinks too much of himself to profane against 
God. 

There is not a profession known to the 
world where a man can secure better wages 
on the account of his ability to curse God. 
And I regard it as a burning disgrace to any 
3 7 oung man to allow these oaths of shame and 
sin to fall from his lips. 

I once heard of a man who erected a large 
building. He had one small room under the 
northeast corner, which he called the "cuss- 
room." The landlord politely accompanied 
each guest to this little room and said, this is 
the room in which I expect all the guests of 
the hotel to do their swearing. Whenever 
you feel the swear coming on, you hurry to 
this room, and remain to yourself until you 
get through cussing. I can't afford to have 
men profaning in the presence of my family 
and guests of the hotel, who very much dislike 
such language. The result was most encour- 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



171 



aging. Occasionally a man would let slip a 
profane word, when the proprietor would 
gently lead or appoint him to the proper room. 
About one trip would do a man. He would 
get so utterly ashamed of himself that he would 
often forget what it was he wanted to swear 
about, and then and there all alone would 
form a resolution never to be heard profaning 
again. 

The story may be true and it may be false, 
but there is one thing that is absolutely certain : 
Men do swear, and it is a dreadful habit. It 
will lower any man in the estimation of good 
people. Besides, you all will know that it never 
can profit you a penny in this life, and the 
words will stare you in the face as you are 
sinking down in death : "Thou shalt not take 
the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain." 

Then, again, I will introduce another class 
of young men who are on the road of unbe- 
lief and fanaticism. They like to speak evil 
of the Word of God, — they sit around on the 
street corners, and talk about the inconsisten- 
cies of the Bible. They say, the story of Jesus 
may do for simple-minded people, but as for 
them they have a mind of their own. Yes, 



m 



EEVIVAL SERMONS, 



they do, and I am thankful to God that such 
is the case, for I should feel very sad if they 
were in possession of my mind. I am sin- 
cerely glad that they are in possession of their 
own mind ; but I am wondering if they have 
any idea, when they have their own mind, 
how near nothing they have. 

You have heard the wise young man enter- 
tain a certain class of people by ridiculing the 
Word of God, and scorning at the birth of 
Christ, frequently declaring that he did not be- 
lieve in the incarnation of Jesus. Yes, that 
is what he says. Then he goes to his room 
to write a letter. The first thing he does is 
to date the letter, A. d. 1889. What does 
that mean? It means 1889 years after the 
birth of Christ. There it is, in his own hand- 
writing. You see he commemorates the birth 
of Christ, then goes right down town, and 
tells those on the street corner that he don't 
believe there ever was a Christ. 

Now, sir, there are one or two things clear 
to my mind — the young man really don't 
know what it signifies to date his letter, or, 
on the other hand, he is not true in his be- 
lief. I would feel very much ashamed to 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



173 



commemorate, day after day, with pen and 
ink, the nativity of one whom 1 claimed never 
lived. It does not look well, to say the least. 
You may take up the daily and weekly papers 
that are published throughout the land, and, 
no matter what the belief of the publisher may 
be, he commemorates the nativity of Jesus 
Christ. Go to any library in the world, take 
down the different books, and you will find 
that every author commemorates the birth of 
Jesus. I hold in my hand a silver dollar, 
and here, under the wings of the eagle, I 
find the government stamp of the year coined 
A. d. It is a recognized fact that Jesus Christ 
made His advent into the world, and it is the 
only event in the world's history sufficient to 
change the reckoning of time, and if I were 
one of those fanatical young men, when I sit 
down to write my mother a letter, I would 
date it so many years after Tom. Paine, 
David Hume, or some other notorious infidel. 
Yes, I would ; I would practice what I preach. 

And let me say to any and all young men 
who are seeking pleasure on this road, that 
you are on the wrong road. Take advice 
from one who loves you, and don't, I pray 



174 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



you, throw insult in the face of one who re- 
deemed you at the cost of His own precious 
bLood. 

Another dangerous road I would mention 
is that road that leads young people to the 
reading of bad literature. Such papers and 
books as have a tendency to lead you down- 
ward, rather than upward, ought to be 
shunned by you as you would shun the most 
poisonous serpent. I believe with all my 
heart that there are books and papers scat- 
tered abroad over this land that ought to be 
in the fire, and the writers of the same in the 
penitentiary. 

I can make some allowance for a man who 
is a sinner, if he will only let other people 
alone, and not try to drag them down on a 
level with himself. But when I see a man, 
whom God has given a talent calculated to do 
so much good, which may fit him to prove a 
great blessing to society, that he will turn 
right around and use that talent to write and 
scatter literature which is calculated to injure 
the character and blight the soul of the boys 
and girls whose future is so precious. I have 
no use for the man whose publications sneer 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



175 



at doing right, who will place the world above 
the church, dishonor above honor, vice above 
virtue ; and the young man or woman who 
lowers their standard of piety enough to read 
such books, will most assuredly read them to 
their sorrow. 

I once heard a minister, in whom I place 
great confidence, say, that he was personally 
acquainted with a certain family, consisting of 
father, mother and daughter. The parents 
were religious and in good circumstances. 
They were much concerned for the futurity of 
their daughter, and were anxious that she 
might receive a thorough education. She was 
a bright, promising girl, and was generally 
found at the head of her class. But, to the 
surprise of her parents, she began to lose in- 
terest in her school books, and later declined 
to go to school at all. She seemed to lose all 
interest in her home, and apparently had little 
love for her parents. At different times the 
mother conversed with her daughter, and told 
her that she did not act any more like her own 
cheerful child. If your father or myself have 
in any way hurt your feelings, treated you 
harshly, it has not been intentionally. You 



176 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



are our only child. The home belongs to 
you. We want you to enjoy home, attend 
school and be useful. A few mornings later 
the mother announced breakfast ; her daughter 
did not answer the call. She entered the 
room ; the window was up, and her daughter 
gone. At the head of her bed, concealed be- 
neath the feather-bed, were seven or eight 
books. The parents examined them, and, to 
their surprise, they were not fit to be read by 
the most wicked man, much less by a young 
innocent girl. How she came in possession 
of the books was a mystery, but some one had 
doubtless placed them in her hands. The 
problem was solved : Bad books had done 
the work ! 

They never heard a word concerning the 
whereabouts of their daughter for nearly two 
years. One day the father noticed, in the 
daily paper, the name of one who had died at 
a hospital in an eastern city, giving the same 
name and age of his daughter. He despatched 
to them to keep the body, took the train, and 
was soon there; and, sure enough, it was his 
own dear girl. The body was brought home. 
A few friends gathered and paid the last re- 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



177 



spect to one who was once fair, pure and 
happy in the pursuits of life, but, through the 
influence of bad books, had gone down, step 
by step, until she wandered from home, only 
to reach a premature grave. Her case may 
well represent the case of thousands of others. 

Think of the boys and girls of to-day who 
are reading dime-novels and all such books, 
which give, in detail, the awful crimes and 
daring deeds of the outlaw, placing their 
names before the public as though they were 
greater or better than the boys who work in 
the shops or on the farm. 

How often young boys read of such char- 
acters — how they laid their plans, succeeded 
in making their escape with large sums of 
money, and some boys form a resolution then 
and there to be a Jesse James, or some one 
who is like him. Such impressions get hold 
upon a boy, and they cling to him like a 
leech. I was very much impressed along this 
line some months ago, in conversing with 
certain parents concerning their boy. They 
said he was twelve (12) years of age, bright 
and shrewd, but for a year had been giving 
them trouble. They had coaxed and pun- 



178 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



ished, and prevailed on the boy to attend 
school. The father would accompany him 
to the school-room door, tell the teacher to 
keep him until he called for him at noon; but 
he would steal away in spite of everything, 
and but the day before he was found in the 
hardware store, wanting to borrow a revolver 
just for a little while, that he might have his 
picture taken with his weapon strapped around 
him. He said he could hardly wait for the 
hour to come that he might be a Jesse James. 
In his pocket was found a dime-novel, with 
a picture of some notorious outlaw with knife 
and revolver hanging by his side. Now, here 
was a boy craving that kind of a life and that 
class of reading, w r hich is calculated to lead 
him to prison and perhaps to the gallows. 

This may be an exceptional case, but it is 
certainly an awful sin in the sight of God for 
boys and girls to spend their golden hours in 
trying to learn more and more of characters 
and events, which, when learned, have a 
tendency to lead you downward. I plead for 
the boys and girls who are here to-night. I 
know you are competent to do much good in 
the world. God help you to read such books 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



179 



and papers as will make you better in this 
life and brighten your prospects for the life to 
come. 

Another road of apparent pleasure I would 
not overlook. That is the road to the dram- 
shops. Think of the millions who have made 
choice of this way, only to die in disgrace and 
shame. I am willing to stand right here in 
my tracks and plead until to-morrow morn- 
ing, if by so doing I can save the young men 
of this town from the dram-shop. I have 
seen so much of rum's fatal work that it pains 
my heart to see the young man enter the sa- 
loon. Some of the most promising young 
men of my acquaintance have, unfortunately, 
made choice of this way, only to be ruined. 

There is said to be, near Salt Lake City, a 
place called the ' 6 Valley of Death." From 
the absence of oxygen in the atmosphere noth- 
ing can live. A sign is placed above the en- 
trance : "Valley of Death! Enter Not I" 
By peering a way in you can see, by the help 
of the lights, the skeletons of men, bones of 
shapeless victims, that have entered uncon- 
scious of their danger, and I have sometimes 
thought there ought to be placed a similar sign 



180 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



over the entrance to the saloon, for there are 
thousands upon thousands of skeletons in the 
cemeteries of our land that have entered these 
dreadful places, unconscious of their danger. 
Life, health and soul are all sacrificed in these 
vile places. We may plead from the pulpit, 
from Christian homes j we may hear the wail 
of the mothers whose hearts have been crushed 
with burdens too heavy to bear, and right in 
the face of all this the saloon doors are stand- 
ing wide open, and day by clay are doing 
their fatal work. 

Only a few weeks ago a gentleman in an 
eastern city took his stand, on Sunday even- 
ing, in plain view of a prominent saloon. In 
just thirty minutes, by his own watch, seven- 
ty-six persons entered the saloon, sixty-six of 
them were young men. Behold the picture ! 
Sixty-six young men in a single Sunday 
evening, in thirty minutes, starting out to be 
drunkards, make wrecks of themselves, and 
perhaps to lose their own souls. But it does 
not stop here. It is said that, on an average, 
there are only twenty-five young men out of 
every hundred who attend church, one in 
twenty (20) who belong to church, , Who 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



181 



can read such statements without trembling 
for the young men of to-clay?' Admit the 
statement to be true that there is one in twenty 
who belongs to a church, then suppose them 
to be faithful and true to their profession, then 
we have five young men for Christ and ninety- 
five for the devil, or nine hundred and fifty 
whose influence is against the cause of Christ, 
and fifty who are using their influence in the 
right direction. 

When I read such statements, I think of a 
remark made by Napoleon. When the armies 
were pressing in upon him from all directions, 
he cried out: "My God, where have we 
drifted to?" So I feel to ask God to-day to 
show the unsaved men of this country where 
they are drifting to. 

Do you see that father and mother, as they 
visit the jail to bid their son good-bye, who 
is soon to swing from the scaffold? The 
mother clasps his hand tight in hers ; the 
father bids him, alas, farewell. The son re- 
marks : "If it had not been for rum I would 
not be where I am to-day." And as the heav) - 
hearted parents move slowly away, I hear them 
say : "O, if it were not for rum !" And me- 



182" 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



thinks I hear a thousand mothers, whose 
wayward boys have started out in life on the 
road to pleasure by the dram-shop, saying : 
"O, if it were not for rum !" The voice comes 
fromtherich and poor, learned and unlearned : 
"O, if it were not for rum I" It comes from 
the penitentiary and the jail, from the cottage 
and the mansion : "O, if it were not for 
rum !" It is the voice of thousands of poor 
distressed wives and millions of suffering chil- 
dren, and methinks to-day there is a voice 
coming from the graves of the millions who 
have fallen by the power of drink : ' 'Beware 
of the sparkling glass l" 

And now, young men, as one who loves to 
see you move forward in the right sphere in 
life and accomplish something for God and 
man, I urge you to beware of the sparkling 
glass. For the sake of humanity, for the sake 
of home, for the sake of mother, for the sake 
of all you hold near and dear in this life, and 
for the sake of Christ, who died to save 3'ou, 
I entreat you to take warning, and remember 
that the words shine forth on the pages of 
Revelation: ' ' No drunkard can inherit the 
kingdom of God." 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



183 



But I would not overlook one other road. 
There are many young people who, to-day, 
are seeking pleasure by disobeying father and 
mother. Some of you are here to-night. 
Pardon me for the assertion if you are not, for 
I tell you we seldom find such a congregation 
as this where there are not some who trample 
beneath their feet the words of father or 
mother. I look over this congregation to- 
night, and see this crowded church. Look at 
the young men standing around the wall. I 
behold the gallery crowded to its utmost ca- 
pacity. Look at these aisles packed and 
jammed, and I think I am safe in saying, one- 
half of the entire congregation is made up of 
young people, and I doubt not but I address 
some who are not true to their parents, and if 
so, I want to tell you that the day will come 
when your soul will be stirred within }'ou, 
as you think of the tears you have wrung 
from your mother's eyes by your disobedience 
to her. 

I remember well, when I was but a boy, 
of reading in some of the school books of a 
little girl who had missed her place in the class 
and went home impatient. Her mother was 



184 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



sick and asked for a drink of water, to which 
the little girl replied in unpleasant tones, why 
do you always call on me to wait on you. 
The mother replied, will not my little girl 
bring a glass of water to her poor sick mother? 
She brought the water, but did not do it kind- 
ly. When bed-time came she went to bed, 
but could not sleep. She determined to get 
up, go to her mother and ask forgiveness, but 
was informed by the nurse that her mother 
was sleeping, and must not be interrupted. 
She stole back to her bed, resolved to rise 
early in the morning and seek forgiveness of 
her mother. But when she awoke the next 
morning the sun was shining brightly through 
the window, she quickly dressed and hastened 
to see her mother, but she was cold in death, 
and with a broken heart the little girl ex- 
claimed : u Oh I that I had brought that glass 
of water to mother kindly." She grew to 
womanhood, frequently visited her mother's 
grave, but that one thought followed her all 
along, and she exclaimed, time and again: 
"I would give the whole world, were it mine, 
could I call back and make right that one 
evening.' 9 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



185 



One year ago I visited my old home, where 
six years previous I bade good-bye to my par- 
ents and entered the ministry. These six 
years have made a marked change in my par- 
ents. I could see more clearly the wrinkles 
of age, the hairs of gray. I said good-bye, 
walked out at the front door, down the steps, 
and was soon hunying to the train. I said 
to myself, father and mother are getting old ; 
I can clearly see that my mother is failing 
fast, but I have this thought of consolation : 
I never intentionally caused my mother to shed 
a tear. I do not know how much value you 
place on this, but it is worth everything to me ; 
and as I stand before the boys and girls of this 
congregation, I beg of you to be true to your 
parents, and remember, it was God who said : 
" Honor thy father and thy mother." 

Then, last of all, I will speak briefly of one 
other road, which I will call -procrastination. 
Every young man here to-night expects, 
some day, to become religious, but you are 
saying, there is time enough yet. How do 
you know there is time enough yet? Where 
do you get your information? Is it accord- 
ing to the Word of God? Not by any 



186 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



means. The words of the great apostle are 
these : "Now is the day of salvation." And 
the words of our Savior are: "Be ye also 
ready." This idea that so many have that 
there is time enough yet originates with the 
devil. All cunning men have their favorite 
points. They may fail with many, but will 
drop back at once to their favorite. Here is 
one I can count on. So if the devil fails to 
capture the young man by profanity, strong 
drink, disrespect to parents, he will catch him 
on this point ; he will say to the young man : 
"There is time enough yet." It was said of 
Beelzebub, the prince of devils, that he called 
a conference to take certain steps against the 
cause of Christ. The question was asked : 
4 'What is the best possible way to get men to 
refuse to be religious?" "Well," says one, 
"let us send out men to tell the people that 
the Bible is not true." "Oh!" says the 
prince, "that will be a failure. The Word 
of God is established, and men are bound to 
believe it." "Well," says another, "let us 
send forth men to tell the world that there is 
no such a thing as an experimental knowledge 
of Christ." To this the prince replied : "It 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



187 



will be no use, for there are thousands upon 
thousands that will stand up and testify to a 
change of heart." "Well," said the third 
one, "I'll tell you how we will work this mat- 
ter. We will go out and advocate Bible doc- 
trine ; we will say to the world that God's 
Word is true, that Jesus Christ did walk 
among men, that he was put to death, and 
resurrected from the dead, that there is a re- 
ward for the righteous, and that we must all 
repent of our sins; then we will say unto the 
world, while these things are all true, yet you 
need not hurry yourself, there is time enough 
yet." Then the prince of devils cried out: 
"That's the plan !" And the news resounded 
through the regions of darkness, among the 
evil spirits : "There is time enough 3 T et." 

My friends, there are numbers be} 7 ond de- 
scription in the regions of darkness at this 
hour, who at one time in life accepted the 
theory that there is time enough yet. 

It was on a summer evening ; a man was 
walking down the railroad ; he noticed a man 
sitting on the track, apparently in a sleepy 
condition. He said: "Stranger, you had 
better wake up, it is only about thirty min- 



188 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



utes until the fast train is due. 59 To which 
the other replied: "There is time enough 
yet." The man passed on; thirty minutes 
later the fast train went dashing by, leaving 
the lifeless body of the man who was sitting 
on the track mangled and strewn along the 
way. Now the question arises : What was 
he doing there? The answer is: Sitting down. 
What for? To die; yes, sitting still to die. 

Oh, how many young men to-day are sit- 
ting still to die, while the great train of eter- 
nal death is coming, coming at the rate of a 
mile a minute ; the brakes are off ; I hear the 
bridges creak ; I see the black breath of the 
engine, while the cinders are flying in the 
air; another moment; she comes dashing 
around the curve, and some young man is 
hurried into eternity. 

Think of it ! While God is calling, Jesus 
pleading, and the Holy Ghost inviting, the 
train of eternal death is coming, and man sit- 
ting still to die. Do you get the thought p 
Sitting still to die ! 

You remember when the prophet, Jonah, 
was straying from God, that in the very midst 
of the storm, while the wind was blowing, the 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



189 



sea dashing with anger, the vessel leaping 
and plunging, they called aloud for Jonah, 
and lo, and behold, he was fast asleep ! Isn't 
it strange that men can sleep in the midst of 
such danger? Is it not strange to-day that 
men all around us can retire at night, fold 
their arms and fall asleep, when they know, 
should they die before the dawn of morning, 
if God's Word is true, they will fall into the 
gulf of despair, never more to rise? O, God, 
are there any here sitting still to die, or fast 
asleep, while the storm is coming? 

Another moment and I will close. I am 
afraid I am talking too long, but, as I said, I 
am awfully in earnest. Some years ago, at 
the close of a revival service, a poor widowed 
mother said to the preacher: "Pray for my 
son • he is twenty-four years of age, my only 
support." The minister at that moment took 
the young man by the hand, urged him to 
give himself to God. He thanked the minis- 
ter for his kindness, but said there is time 
enough yet. The next day the minister no- 
ticed six men carrying the body of the seventh 
one past his door. He hastened out, fol- 
lowed them across the street, where the body 



190 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



was laid. The minister recognized him as 
being the same young man who said, on the 
previous night: "There is time enough 3 7 et." 
He looked wishfully into the preacher's face, 
as if he wanted to speak. The minister knelt 
by his side, put his ear close to the young 
man's lips, and he said, in a whisper: "I 
wish I were a Christian." These are the 
last words he ever spoke, and to-night he is 
in eternity. No voice of the minister, no 
prayer of his mother, can reach him. He is 
gone, gone forever. May God save the young 
people of this country. And now, while we 
arise and sing : "Jesus saves, Jesus saves," 
come, I pray you, to the altar of prayer, that 
Jesus may save to-night. 



SERMON XI. 



Text. — ''Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the 
law."— Gal. iii, 13. 



HE apostle, in writing this letter to the 
Galatians, reminds them that they are 
no longer bound to the letter of the law for 
salvation, for eternal life is given through 
Jesus Christ. He adds to this statement these 
words : 4 4 If there had been a law given which 
could have given life, verily righteousness 
should have been by the law," i. if the 
law had have been sufficient for man's re- 
demption, then salvation could be found in 
the law, and not in Christ. The Scripture 
hath included all under sin, that the promise 
by faith in Christ might be given to them that 
believe. 

Notwithstanding the fact the world still had 
the law, yet the apostle holds up Christ as the 

191 



192 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



only way of life. He represents the Word of 
God holding us to a living faith in Christ Jesus. 
Hence we notice, in the first place, that man 
stood in need of redemption, and he could not 
be redeemed without a Redeemer, and that 
Jesus Christ is that Redeemer. We have only 
to point to the Word of God to prove that 
man needed to be redeemed. The history of 
the human race show beyond all contradic- 
tion that man stood in need of redemption. 
Sin rolled its poisonous current through the 
veins of the human race. Man everywhere 
is a picture of ruin, so much so that one of 
the inspired writers declares that we are a 
diseased race, from the crown of our head to 
the soles of our feet, all of which goes to show 
that some great event has taken place through 
which the human family have become sinners 
in the sight of God. Man is a wreck, and 
while in his natural state before God is out of 
harmony with Christ. We all, like sheep, 
have gone estray ; the whole world lieth in 
wickedness. There is none that doeth good, 
no, not one. 

Take the human family at large, they do 
not grow up into spiritual enjoyment. It is 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



193 



natural for our children to learn the very 
things not best for them to know. We come 
forth under the threatenings of a broken law. 
God's great law to control the hearts of man 
has been broken, and we are reckoned, says 
Paul, as sinners. This is not only made clear 
to men like Paul, but to every man. The 
unregenerate man knows he is not prepared 
for the future, hence we preach, pray and pre- 
vail on men who are lost to come, not to a 
broken law, but to the Lord Jesus Christ, re- 
membering that it is Christwho hath redeemed 
us. Yes, we are all sinners, and God has 
seen proper to give us the law of conscience, 
by which we are enabled to know that we are 
not right with God. 

If you should come to my house at the mid- 
night hour and take ten dollars from my 
pocket, it would not be necessary for me or 
any one else to inform you that you had done 
wrong. You would be the first man to find 
it out. Such was the case with Adam. He 
may plead innocence if he chooses so to do, 
but the truth of the matter is that something 
told him he had done wrong, or he certainly 
would not have hid from God. God had 



194 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



placed him under His law of obedience. He 
violated that law, and became dead to God. 
We have all descended from sinful parents, 
hence we are a diseased and a dying race, and 
before we can in any possible way be saved, 
we must become alive, not to the law, but to 
Christ. 

Hence we see the need of redemption. God 
does his work with a fixed purpose in view. 
It was the fall of man that called for a restorer. 
If man was not in a lost condition, God never 
would have devised a plan to save him. If 
man is not naturally a poor, polluted, unsaved 
soul, why does God demand his soul purified 
by the blood of Christ? In other words, if he 
is not a sinner, why does Jesus himself de- 
clare : " Without the new birth it is impossi- 
ble to see God." 

Yes, man needs to be redeemed, and with 
this awful picture of desolation and sorrow 
before the eyes of God, he at once enters into 
the work of restoring man. I said that man 
stood in need of redemption. I also said that 
man could not be redeemed without a Re- 
deemer. Man has no power to redeem him- 
self. All the men in the world cannot redeem 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



195 



one soul from the curse of a broken law. 
There have been great men in the world — 
men of war, men of science, men of philos- 
ophy, great generals, great captains, mighty 
leaders in war they were. We often take up 
the history and read of the lives of these great 
men. Yes, they were great men, many of 
them most noble men. Their noble deeds 
will stand for centuries to come, but we never 
had a man yet who was able to redeem one 
soul from the curse of a broken law. Man 
could not even devise a plan, much less put 
it into execution. Angels could not do it. 
God's great law to control the heart was no 
longer sufficient, because it was broken, hence 
it must originate in God. He who has suf- 
fered the effect of a broken law must now in 
the tenderness of his great heart bring about 
some other way, or the race is left without 
hope. 

Then begins the mysterious work of re- 
deeming the world. O! what a wonderful 
work it was. I look out upon the world and 
see what God has brought into existence : the 
earth is carpeted with living green, the hills 
are covered with moss, the mountains lift 



196 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



their rocky tops high in the morning sun. 
The blue canopy above is studded with globes 
of sacred light. The sun is suspended like a 
ball in the air, throwing its rays of light from 
heaven to earth at the rate of 186,000 miles 
per second. The moon reaching down with 
strong arms to move the waters of the mighty 
deep. I look above me and behold that long 
trail of light, known as the milky way, which 
in reality is a belt of worlds, while some of our 
modern astronomers have calculated that ere 
the light of some of these planets reach the 
earth, it must have traveled many centuries. 
Then we remember it has all been the work 
of God. Then the mysterious work of cre- 
ation, and the overwhelming greatness of God 
manifests itself to us, and the thoughtful man 
will say : How wonderful are the works of 
creation ! And so the) 7 are. And I want to 
ask you if you know of any work that will 
compare with the work of creation. Well, 
as for myself, I believe the work of redemp- 
tion to be equally as great and fully as mys- 
terious as the work of creation. Here was a 
world all broken, bruised and mangled by 
the fall, A broken law hanging over a broken 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



197 



world. The soul of man is that part that links 
him to God, but God's great law that is writ- 
ten on the heart of man had been severed; 
and that moment man was severed from God, 
left to himself as helpless as a child, with a 
stone about its neck and cast into the sea. 
Something must be done, some provision must 
be made, or man is left helpless and alone. 
It used to be customary a way out on the fron- 
tiers for men to take with them an ax, and 
every few rods they would hew off the bark 
of a tree, perhaps as large as my hand. They 
called this blazing out the way. Their object 
was, in making it possible to find their way 
back. But when man wandered away from 
God he went off in an awful huny ; he went 
a long way off, but failed to blaze out the way. 
There was no one left to follow up to look 
after the loss. For says the Word : "All we, 
like sheep, have gone estray." 

Behold the picture! The human family 
away out in a far-off country, lost. They 
may try to console one another, but there is 
no consolation for a man when he realizes 
that he is lost, and knows there is no one left 
to find him. Then turn your eyes toward 



198 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



heaven , and look by the eye of faith away up 
through glory's gate; look away on over the 
heads of patriarchs and prophets, still further 
on, beyond the angels of light. Still look on, 
until your eyes rest upon the throne — there 
is God, looking with intense interest away 
down to a lost world. 

Behold the scene ! Measure the distance ! 
Look at the human family, then look toward 
God. Do you see how far they are apart? 
Who is able to blaze out the way? None but 
God. So He sends forth His Son to blaze 
out the way with His own precious blood. 
Jesus comes and takes His stand at Jerusalem, 
places Himself on the cross, the nails are 
driven through His hands and feet, the cross 
is lifted up, and there, in the midst of suffer- 
ing that no tongue can describe, Jesus, by His 
own precious blood, blazes out the way. He 
cries to the Father: "It is finished," and the 
old world is redeemed. 

Behold the picture ! Jesus dying. With 
one hand linked to humanity and the other to 
the Father, He bridges over the chasm, and 
the world may well cry out : "Christ hath re- 
deemed us V But I remark, in the second 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



199 



place, that this work of redemption was most 
wonderful, from the fact that Jesus must re- 
deem this old world, make it new, yet, at the 
same time, he must not destroy the old. Do 
you get the idea? 

I take my watch and throw it upon the 
stone ^pavement, and break it into pieces ; 
don't leave a single portion of it whole. It is 
broken to that extent that it is ruined forever. 
I take it to the silversmith and request him to 
mend it. He looks at me astonished, and 
says, emphatically : "You will never find a 
man who can repair that watch." But he 
looks closely at the pile of ruins before him, 
and says : "I can see the number of the watch, 
also where it was manufactured ; I can order 
you one made just like this one. But I said 
to the man: "That will not do. It would 
not really be the same watch. I don't care 
for the cost, only I want my own watch." 
He shakes his head, and adds : "1 would like 
to accommodate you, but the work you want 
done is beyond my power." Well, that is a 
fair representation of the world. It was 
broken, mangled and bruised to that extent 
that there was nothing left to work on, and 



200 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



in that condition Jesus must, in some way, 
gather together the ruins, so as to make it sus- 
tain the same relation to God as if it never 
had been broken. 

There used to be, in an ancient city, a 
large picture hanging in the king's court- 
room. The painting had faded until at a lit- 
tle distance away it could not be seen. The 
picture, at one time, was worth thousands of 
dollars, but it had faded away until it was al- 
most valueless. The king advertised for an 
artist. One came, and was informed by the 
king that he wanted the colors of the pic- 
ture brought out again. To which the artist re- 
plied : "I cannot do that, but I can see about 
what the picture has been, and I can paint 
you one that will look almost exactly as this 
one looked when new." But the king re- 
plied : "That w r ill not do. I want this same 
faded, ruined picture to be that beautiful pic- 
ture that it once was." The artist walked 
away. Another soon arrived, another, and 
still another, with like results. Months passed 
away, when early one morning a stranger 
called for the king, informed him that he had 
heard of the work he wanted done, and that 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



201 



he had come from a far-off country, feeling 
sure that he was competent for the work. He 
examined the picture carefully, and said : "I 
will undertake the work." He spent days in 
making preparation, arranging his material, 
stretching canvas to give the proper shade, 
then he began his work. Week after week 
passed away. The colors could be seen, as 
it were, coming to the front. Brighter and 
brighter they appeared, until the artist an- 
nounced that on a certain day the work would 
be complete. The room was crowded with 
hundreds who were anxious to see the com- 
pleted work. At the proper time the canvas 
was all removed, while the vast audience 
looked with joy at the magnificent work. 
The artist stood, with uplifted hands, point- 
ing at the picture, which looked as full, fresh 
and complete as the day it fell from the first 
artist's hands, while the king arose and said : 
"Behold the finished work I" 

In some such way Jesus came from a far- 
off country to bring back that which had 
faded away, and make it as valuable and 
beautiful as before. The work has been done. 
The King of Heaven threw around the world 



202 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



the canvas of darkness for three long hours. 
When His Son said: "It is finished," God 
drew back the canvas, and methinks He 
pointed to the finished work, and said : "Be- 
hold the completed work of redemption !" 
Glory to His name ! Christ hath redeemed 
us. It comes from land and sea — Christ hath 
redeemed us. It comes from the lips of rich 
and poor — Christ hath redeemed us. The 
news thunders from Calvary to the ends of 
the earth — Christ hath redeemed us. It comes 
from men on earth and angels in heaven — 
Christ hath redeemed us. The words sparkle 
on the page of Holy Writ — Christ hath re- 
deemed us. But now, in my concluding re- 
marks, let me ask you to be careful, to make 
no mistake concerning this work of redemp- 
tion. 

The minister's illustration was not a clear 
one. He pictured a man in a burning build- 
ing, when a strong man ran, in all haste, 
threw his arms around him and carried him 
out. He redeemed him, in one sense, but he 
saved him also. While in Bible redemption 
Jesus redeems men without saving them. 

A better illustration would be to place a 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



203 



ladder to a window of the burning building 
and say to the man, walk out. The way is 
then provided for his escape, but his life de- 
pends on his obedience. I see a man chained 
to a stake ; the prairie grass is all on fire ; 
the flames are rapidly approaching him. I 
go in haste and cut the cord that binds him, 
and say to that man, walk awa} 7 , you need 
not die. So while Christ redeemed the world 
from the curse of a broken law, he did not pay 
our debt in any way as to exempt us from re- 
pentance toward God and faith in our Lord 
Jesus Christ. He simply made the necessary 
provision that man might not perish, but have 
everlasting life, and when, under the awaken- 
ing influences of the Holy Spirit, we repent 
and believe the Gospel, then God, through the 
merits of Jesus, pronounces the word -pardon, 
and the redeemed man is saved from the pow- 
ers of darkness, through repentance toward 
God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Chrish hath redeemed us, yet there are thou- 
sands in the world redeemed by the blood of 
Jesus, who are lost, just as much unsaved as 
if they had never been redeemed, and it 
pains my heart as I go from place to place 



204 



REVIVAL SERMONS. 



and look into the faces of so many redeemed 
souls who are yet unsaved. Redeemed men 
everywhere, passing away one by one, to ap- 
pear before the great tribunal throne of God, 
unprepared for the future. May God help 
me to emphasize these words to-day: "Christ 
hath redeemed us." 

During the days of slavery there was sold 
in Richmond, Va., one day, an unusual 
number of slaves; a gentleman from the 
North passed along and looked with inter- 
est at the number soon to be sold. He no- 
ticed a bright little girl, perhaps 9 years of 
age ; he said to himself, I will buy that 
girl if it takes the last dollar I have, and give 
her her liberty. She is a bright, innocent look- 
ing child, and I am determined to set her free. 
The time arrived, bid after bid was offered, 
until he made the bid which secured the child. 
He then said to the little girl, I have pur- 
chased you, and you are no longer a slave. 
You may go with whoever } t ou choose. The 
little girl looked wishfully into his face. A 
bright smile flashed over her little brown face, 
when she said : ' ' Please, sir, may I go with 
} T ou?" My friends, Christ hath redeemed us. 
Who will you go with to-day? 



A LECTURE 

ON THE 

MT. VERNON CYCLONE. 



jjpjQR the P ast ^ ew weeks, thousands of 
Jill people have been reading, with no little 
interest, the different statements made by 
newspaper reporters concerning the cyclone 
which swept over Mt. Vernon, Illinois, Sun- 
day evening, February ist, 1888. And 
doubtless you have said in your heart, if not 
from your lips: "It cannot have been so de- 
structive to life and property as the newspaper 
men have made it appear." 

You know newspaper men are accused, 
sometimes, of stating the whole case, and 
often a little more. So the majority of per- 
sons say they have told more than the whole 
truth in this case. 

There are persons who think of editors and 
205 



206 



CYCLONE LECTUKE. 



reporters about as the old lady of whom I 
once heard. She said: "The Methodists 
were always overdoing everything." 

It was a very dry time. Rain was much 
needed. The old lady was anxious to see it 
rain. She believed in the Scriptures. "The 
prayers of the righteous availeth much." 
She requested a certain minister, who hap- 
pened to be a Methodist, to set apart one day, 
and urge his flock to engage with him in 
prayer to the Lord to send rain. The meet- 
ing was arranged, prayers were offered, and, 
on the following morning, the rain descended. 

It rained, and rained, and kept on raining, 
until the old lady could no longer bear it, 
with patience. Then, in angry tones, she 
exclaimed: "This is about what one might 
expect of these noisy Methodists ; they always 
overdo everything I" 

But, in this case, if the papers have failed 
to give a correct statement, the failure is in 
under-estimating rather than exaggerating. 

Having many friends in Mt. Vernon, and 
knowing of their once beautiful little city, I 
felt a great desire to visit the scene of destruc- 
tion, 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 207 

A few hours' ride by rail brought me to the 
scene of the disaster. The train was crowded 
with passengers, who were anxious to see as 
well as myself. Presently our train moved 
round a curve, while the engineer notified 
us, by the voice of his powerful engine, which 
he permitted to scream at full blast for an 
unusual length of time, that we were nearing 
the scene of desolation. A thousand people 
rise to their feet, every one seeming anxious 
to take the first look. This scene was re- 
peated on the arrival of every train from any 
point of the compass. 

When the trains come to a stand-still, the 
multitudes hastened to the scene as if a cyclone 
were again coming with all its fury ; some 
running at the top of their speed ; some half- 
way between a walk and a run ; others as a 
ten-year-old boy would express it, in a dog- 
trot. With hat and budget in hand, away 
they go* and such a strain of conversation, I 
am sure, I never heard before in all my life. 
It was certainly similar to that of the con- 
fusion of tongues, for each one seemed to talk 
in a language peculiarly his own. 

Off to the right I noticed a large tree ? 



208 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



which had been torn from the ground, tossed 
top downward, driving many of the branches 
deep into the earth, while a hundred ground- 
less roots were reaching out in all directions, 
as if once more trying to find enlodgment in 
old mother earth, while just before us about 
fifty boys had blocked the way, while halting 
to view a freight car which bad been lifted 
from the track by the storm and carried some 
fifty feet and left exactly topside down. 

The boys soon hurry on, the way is once 
more clear, the multitude hurry anxiously on, 
some falling down, while others are just get- 
ting up. Many are saying: "Don't walk so 
fast," others crying aloud to their friends to 
hurry. 

"Do you see that bed-tick on the broken 
limb of that tree?" said a man near by. 
"That is nothing," said another, "look at 
that buggy wrapped around that snag. Isn't 
that a sight?" I looked, and to my surprise 
saw that each of the four spindles were twisted 
off and left sticking in the hubs. 

Think of the power that can pick up bars 
of steel, wrap them up like balls of twine, or 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



209 



break them as you would break a match in 
your hand. 

Just out to our left a short distance, could 
be seen a lady's hat and dress swinging from 
the broken branch of a tree, fifteen feet from 
the ground, while a small boy who is stand- 
ing by his mother's side, takes one sober 
look, and then exclaims: "Mother, do you 
suppose that there were more than one wo- 
man up that tree when the storm came on?" 

Well, I could see at once if I rushed on in 
company with such a mass of excited human- 
ity, I would soon travel over the whole field, 
and then be like the great majority of them, 
not able to inform any one much about it. 

Seeing the result of a cyclone is one thing, 
and being able to describe it is another. 

So I resolved to stop, turn around, and 
leave the multitude and go off by myself, and 
wait for a more favorable time. I had read 
in the papers that this cyclone was one of the 
most destructive ever known; that large 
churches, school buildings, the whole business 
pavt of town, with five hundred family res- 
idences, had been demolished by the storm ; 
that two or three hundred people were killed 



210 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



or wounded, two thousand left without shel- 
ter. 

Such statements made my heart ache, and 
I resolved to make a thorough investigation 
of the case. I went directly to the Methodist 
Episcopal parsonage, and found the family 
very much distressed, but thankful that their 
lives had been spared. It was not necessary 
to leave the parsonage to see the dreadful 
work of the storm, for right in the yard lay 
the old Methodist church, twisted from its 
foundation and thrown in one large, precip- 
itous heap of ruins. The spire, which was 
more than one hundred feet in height, came 
down with a mighty crash across the kitchen 
of the parsonage, while the pastor's wife, sis- 
ter Davis, came very near losing her life, be- 
ing at that time in the kitchen. I said to the 
family : 6 6 How much warning had you of the 
coming storm?" The answer was: "Only 
a few seconds." 

The pastor, Rev. W. F. Davis, said : u We 
heard a roaring, our daughter stepped to the 
window, and said : ' Father, I saw the church 
reel.' At that moment it came, with a 
mighty crash, to the ground. We rushed out 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



211 



of the house. The storm was over, and the 
church lay in ruins to mark the place where, 
one moment previous, stood a magnificent 
building." 

I next secured the services of a friend who 
was well acquainted with the city and its sur- 
roundings. On our way we stopped several 
times to look at the half-wrecked buildings 
along the edge of the cyclone's track. We 
had but little time to spend outside of the 
main line, for I determined to go to the south- 
west part of the town, where the cyclone did 
its first work, and then follow its main track 
in a northeasterly direction through the city, 
and when we reached that point, and turned 
and took our first look, I must confess I never 
had such feelings. Any attempt to describe 
the impression made upon my mind would 
simply be a waste of time. And, indeed, the 
same may be truly said of the terrible devas- 
tation, for I know of no stretch of language 
or figure of speech whereby I am able to de- 
scribe it. 

It looked like some giant, who had the 
strength of ten thousand men, had come along, 
thrust in his sickle and mowed one swath, 



212 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



four hundred yards wide and one mile in 
length, leaving the stately mansion as well as 
the lowly cottage leveled behind him, as the 
mower would leave the grass. I cannot give 
you a better idea of its appearance than to 
imagine yourself standing and looking over a 
town which had been destroyed by a storm 
and inundated by water. 

You have seen the drift-wood in the river- 
bottom after a freshet, all covered with slime 
and sediment, which the water leaves behind. 
If you can imagine the walls of a city of four 
thousand inhabitants in one shapeless mass, 
covered as the drift-wood in the river-bottom, 
you will have a faint idea of the sight which 
met my gaze. It seemed like the storm, in 
some places, had actually picked up the 
earth an inch in depth, and sent it amidst the 
falling rain with lightning rapidity, completely 
submerging the town. You would think 
from the appearance of things, that all the 
buildings in the south part of town had been 
old, unpainted ones, for they were strewn 
along the way, and looked like each piece 
had been rolled over in filth and mud. Now 
and then a window frame, or part of a door, 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



213 



escaped to that extent that we could see from 
the varnish that they had belonged to costly 
buildings. A stranger, without a guide to 
inform him, would have no idea of the amount 
of damage done. I stood and looked over a 
few acres of ground which was completely 
covered with broken planks, bricks and stone, 
lath and shingles, strips of carpet, parts of 
organs, wagon wheels, hundreds of trees ty- 
ing broken and twisted across each other. I 
said to my friend, as I looked upon the awful 
picture, which reminded me of a heap of 
drift-wood: "There have been houses along 
here, for I can see, occasionally, some painted 
board, a piece of costly furniture, which tells 
me that one day buildings have stood on this 
field of ruins." "Oh!" said the astonished 
man, "there were no less than one hundred 
dwellings standing on this patch of ground 
that we now look over, covering but a few 
acres." And I declare to you the storm had 
so completely done its fatal work that not one- 
half the houses could be located. They were 
gone, foundation and all, while great trees 
and heaps of ruins covered the places where 
buildings had stood. 



214 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



It so happened in this part of the town that 
most of the families had seen proper to leave 
the large trees stand in their yards, some hav- 
ing as high as twenty or thirty large trees, 
three or four feet in diameter. These were 
torn from the earth, stripped of their branches, 
broken in pieces, rolled up in heaps with 
ruined furniture and broken buildings, from 
ten to fifteen feet in height. 

We passed on, keeping about the centre of 
the cyclone track, and O, such destruction I 
never saw. It looked like the storm-cloud, 
as it went bounding through the very heart of 
the city, leveling the fences, snatching houses 
from their foundations, and hurling them with 
indescribable force into other buildings, 
smashing and crushing them into kindling, 
and leaving the city in ruins, and hundreds 
crying for help. Just at this point, being a 
little wearied, we sat down for a few minutes 
to rest. 

You will pardon me for adding anything 
novel in describing a picture so sad as this, 
but in order that you may understand, as far 
as possible, the work of the cyclone, I want 
to tell you all I know. I made up my mind 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



215 



while sitting there to speak to the men pass- 
ing by, and propound to them certain ques- 
tions as to what they knew about the storm, 
that is, if there was any remarkable event the) 7 
could relate. Well, I soon found out that 
some of them were prepared to tell me a 
great many^ things, some sad and some humor- 
ous. 

One man said that a horse was tied to a 
manger pole in a certain barn. The barn 
was lifted up and carried away, while within 
about fifty yards from where the barn had 
stood the horse was found uninjured, and tied 
to the same pole. 

Another said he could testify to the fact that 
a cow was found dead with the small end of 
a. ham of meat driven in the centre of the 
brute's head. Just think of the rapidity of a 
storm that could hurl a ham of meat with 
such tremenduous force. It must have flew 
faster than the fast train a young man once 
referred to. He said: "It was awful to 
think of the way they did run some of the 
trains nowadays. Why, only a short time 
ago I stepped on the steps of a fast train. 
Just as it was starting I turned to kiss my 



216 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



wife good-bye, and kissed a cow nine miles 
from there." 

Another one said that he was somewhat 
amused, a moment or two after the storm, to 
see a middle-aged man coming around the 
corner — one shoe was off, his face besmeared 
with mud, no hat on, the left sleeve in his 
shirt missing from the elbow clown, walking 
with all his might, making that big bare foot 
sound on the sidewalk very much like a large 
pan-cake turned on thegridle, and declaring: 
"If I live to get through this Pll be a Chris- 
tian." 

Another young man, who had been con- 
verted the night before, was heard to say : 
"O, I am so glad I was converted last night." 
While one of his associates, who had refused, 
when invited, at the same time, to go the al- 
tar, was not far behind him, crying equally 
as loud: u O, how I wish I had been con- 
verted last night." 

Another informed me that a } T oung man 
ran, with all his might, and crept under a 
freight car, where he was heard to offer the 
following prayer: "O, Lord, if there be any 
Lord, help me to believe in Jesus, if there is 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



217 



a Jesus, and save my soul, if I have got any." 

Hence you can see that the cyclone did 
really make some a little serious concerning 
the future. I doubt not that it was the means 
of causing many to become Christians. 

I remember of hearing of a certain minis- 
ter, who was called to see a young man who 
had been bitten by a rattle-snake. The min- 
ister understood all about the surroundings, 
the entire family claim to be unbelievers, but 
in the face of death they are ready to have the 
minister offer prayer. He prayed in this 
wise: "O ! Lord, we feel very grateful unto 
Thee, that we are living in a land where there 
are rattle-snakes, I thank Thee that a rattle- 
snake has bitten John, and now, Lord, we 
humbly beseech of Thee to send a rattle-snake 
to bite each member of the family, for we be- 
lieve that nothing under heaven, save the bite 
of a rattle-snake will ever bring them to re- 
pentance." So it may be that nothing short 
of a cyclone can bring some men to become 
anxious about their souTs salvation. Well, 
after hearing of a number of events that were 
somewhat humerous, we moved on into the 
heart of the town. 



218 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



The streets were full of material that had 
once been buildings of rare beauty and cost. 
The court-house, that had been built at a cost 
of $64,000, looked as though, it had been 
picked up about midway, lifted into the air, 
turned over, and then with a mighty crash 
came thundering down on the already shat- 
tered walls, while the business houses that 
formed the square looked as if they had been 
looking in from all directions, and when they 
saw the magnificent court-house fall they all 
let go and pitched forward into the streets. 
The smaller buildings seemed to fall in line 
and came trembling and crashing to the 
ground, and there in a mighty mass of ruins 
lay the business portion of the city. 

I assure you it would not have looked more 
like chaos had the entire city been lifted from 
the ground, carried miles into the air, then 
let loose and come thundering to the earth. 
The streets were full, from one side to the 
other, with a heap of debris many feet in 
height, consisting of broken bedsteads, ruined 
show cases, broken counters, wagon loads of 
boots and shoes, dry goods and clothing, frag- 
ments of buggies and wagons, harness, sad- 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



219 



dies, barrels and boxes, doors and shutters, 
brick and stone, broken timbers, parts of pi- 
anos, rocking chairs, sofa lounges. O ! what 
a heep of ruins ! It is only a waste of time 
to attempt description. 

I was made to think of that eventful day 
when Joshua marched around Jericho and the 
city fell in ruins. We walked up to the Crews' 
block, and took one look at the spot from 
which the lifeless body of J. C. Murray had 
been taken. I then requested my friend to 
take me to the place where Mrs. Waters and 
babe were killed . She was a Christian woman . 
with whom I was acquainted. She clung to 
her child and they perished together. We 
stood and looked several feet down in the heap 
of ruins where kind hands had lifted the tim- 
bers, removed the bricks and stones from the 
body of the lifeless woman, who was found 
with the child still in her arms. I could see 
that my friend was very much affected, and 
without extended conversation we turned and 
walked away. We passed the place where a 
child was found two days and nights after 
the storm. It is said to have breathed twice 
after it was taken from the ruins. 



220 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



There were many sad things that happened 
along this street that I do not care to men- 
tion. Indeed, it would only make you sad to 
hear of them. We hastened on out of the 
business part of the city, to look upon the 
desolation and ruin that still spread out an- 
other half mile before us. 

I noticed in one place six or seven buggies 
in one heap of ruins — one large ball of tin, as 
large as an ordinary hay-stack, lying rolled up 
in a round ball and pitched out to one side by 
itself. I asked my friend if he had any idea 
where it came from. He said : 4 4 Not in the 
least. " 

Some of the colored people were out, trying 
to locate the place where their little church 
had stood, but could not get the exact loca- 
tion. Not one board, sill or foundation stone 
had been left. Hence you can see, with side- 
walks gone, fences carried away, and in some 
places not able to find where the street had 
been, that it was not an easy matter to locate 
a missing building. While a little way off to 
our right there was a little heap of ruins to 
mark the place where the residence of Mr. 
Legg had stood. The family all escaped, 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



221 



save the mother. She was severely injured, 
and at that moment was supposed to be dy- 
ing. We called to see her; she was near 
death's door, but recognized me, and requested 
a word of prayer. Then whispered to her 
husband to have us sing the "Sweet Bye and 
Bye," etc. 

In a few hours she crossed the river, and is 
doubtless at rest to-day. 

We passed the place, and looked for a mo- 
ment at the floor of a humble home, where 
all save the floor had been carried away. It 
is said that at this place the mother was found 
lying on the table, cold in death, while the 
children were standing by begging their life- 
less mother to speak. 

I had a desire to visit one other place where 
life was lost, and then I felt determined not 
to request my friend to take me to any of the 
other scenes of sorrow. So, by my request, 
he led me to the lovely spot where Mary 
Westbrook lost her life. They had a beauti- 
ful home, and were much loved by all who 
knew them. It seemed as if the storm had 
gathered hold upon the house with iron fing- 
ers near the top, lifted the roof in the air, 



222 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



held it there until the rest, save the floor, was 
swept away. The family were blown a few 
feet north, where the top of the house came 
down upon them. A stick of timber pen- 
etrated the body of Miss Mary, killing her in- 
stantly. Her once beautiful piano lay in the 
south corner of the yard, the balance of the 
furniture had gone in an easterly direction, 
and lay piled against the snag of a tree, and 
that picture of ruins was all that remained of 
that once beautiful home. As I looked upon 
the scene of ruins I remembered the words of 
one of old: "All is vanity, and vexation of 
spirit." 

I now said I have seen all I want to see, 
except the sufferers at the hospital. But be- 
fore we go there I want to go back to the 
house and take a little rest, during which time 
I conversed with two or three of my former 
acquaintances concerning the storm. They 
said it could not be described. 

One said it seemed to him like an immense 
cloud of darkness, rolling with great rapidity, 
while streaks of lightning were darting and 
blazing through like fire-brands, in all direc- 
tions. 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



223 



Another said he heard a very strange noise, 
ran to the door and saw houses, barns and 
trees going through the air with great rapid- 
ity, while immense torrents of white and black 
smoke were bursting from the cloud, as if a 
mountain of smoke had been rolled up in 
compact form, dropped into the city and ex- 
ploded. But, he added, in less time than I 
can tell it, all was in ruins. 

While I read a description in a paper some- 
thing like this : The storm-cloud resembled 
a mammoth balloon, just swaying to and fro, 
and sweeping everything in its line. 

Thus each man had his own way of giving 
a description, or rather in trying to, for all 
admit that an adequate description cannot be 
given. 

A good Methodist brother informed me of 
his loss, but said no loss, except the loss of 
life, seems so sad to me as the loss of the 
church. "My loss is heavy, but I can bear 
it all better than to see our dear old church 
all torn down. The church where, for years, 
I have heard the Gospel of Christ; the church 
where my family has gathered around the 
sacremental table j the church where my chil- 



224 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



dren have been converted." He then shed a 
few tears, and continued, saying: "It seems 
that I cannot stand it — not to hear the church- 
bell ring, and I think if I can get help, we 
will dig into the ruins until we find the bell, 
and, if it is not broken, we will put it up 
temporarily, and we will ring it for the fam- 
ily prayer meetings." u O," he said, "how it 
would cheer my heart to hear the old bell 
again." 

I thought to myself that the good brother 
was as anxious to hear the bell as the old bell- 
man a century ago, who waited impatiently 
in the belfry of the old city hall to ring forth 
the notes of victory and liberty, that should 
soon echo and re-echo all over the land. It 
was nearly sun-down when the storm came on 
and darkness soon spread over the scene of 
desolation, while multitudes were searching 
through the darkness for relatives and friends. 
A very reliable man informed me that he 
could hear the cries of hundreds at one time. 
The ruined city in some parts was also on 
fire, while the weeping multitude well knew 
that some of their loved ones were buried near 
the approaching flames. Others were carried 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



225 



through the streets, dragged through the dirt 
and slime, until members of the same family 
were not able to recognize each other, thus 
all night the work went on, some carrying 
away the dead, others searching for the 
wounded and dying. One woman remarked, 
if I should live a thousand years I would never 
forget the awful cries and pitiful moans of 
that night. It made me heart-sick to hear it, 
and I prayed that God might save us from 
ever more being called to witness such a scene. 

In company of a physician I entered the hos- 
pital. In the first room there were five mem- 
bers of the same family, the father had a 
broken arm, the mother and two of the chil- 
dren had bandages around their heads, the 
remaining one, a young woman, had her arm 
pierced through by a sliver. She said their 
house was blown away, and the family lie 
burried beneath the ruins. She found her- 
self with a large sliver through her arm. She 
said she tried to reach over and pull the sliver 
out, but could not succeed. She then laid 
hold upon the part that protruded through her 
arm, and drew the ugly sliver on through. 
She looked pale and distressed, but I think 



226 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



4 

afterwards recovered. In the second room we 
found husband and wife both with broken 
limbs. They bore their suffering patiently 
and expected to get well. In the third a 
woman with a broken limb, also a badly 
bloodshot eye. She seemed cheerful and free 
to talk of the storm, and said, when she first 
heard the noise she looked from the window 
and saw buildings coming with great rapidity 
in that direction, that was all she remem- 
bered. She was found nearly a hundred 
yards from her home. Her mother was found 
across the street in a pile of broken timber; 
her three-)' ear old child as far in another di- 
rection, and almost buried in the mud. Her 
other two little girls were badly bruised, and 
picked up some distance away, but none of 
the family were killed. 

On we went through other rooms, viewing 
the sick, the suffering, the dying ; some with 
arms off, others with limbs crushed, and I 
might say wounded in every conceivable way. 
As we left the building and walked away, I 
said: "Doctor, have I seen the most of the 
sufferers?" When, to my surprise, he an- 
swered: u You have scarcely got a start, You 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



227 



have not seen half in this one building, and 
there are two hundred others in the city, 
whose condition is equally as critical." I 
was made to think of that eventful day, when 
the first-born of every Egyptian home was 
cold in death. 

Now, in conclusion, let me give you a few 
thoughts that flashed through my mind. In 
the first place, the storm came on when least 
expected, and without a moment's warning. 
So we learn from the Word of God that some 
day the Son of Man will certainly appear, and 
that, too, without one moment's warning. 
Some will be in the field, some in the mill, 
others scattered abroad over the land, not 
thinking for one moment that the King is 
coming. Hence these sudden calamities, that 
come so unexpectedly upon us, ought to be 
sufficient to remind us of the words of our 
Savior: "Be ye also ready." Then, as I 
saw the Christian people standing firm and 
unshaken in their faith, I thought of the in- 
fluence of Christ over those who believe and 
follow Him. There were men who, a mo- 
ment before the storm, were worth their thou- 
sands j a moment afterward., scarcely a penny, 



228 



CYCLONE LECTURE. 



and yet I heard them say : "None of these 
things move me." I thought the words were 
certainly true that the " Gospel of Christ is the 
Power of God." . 

Then I was told that right away after the 
storm every cloud passed away, the sun 
seemed to shine with unusual brightness. I 
was then made to think of that eventful day, 
when the earth shall veil her face in sorrow, 
crumble into one heap of indescribable ruins, 
leaving the unfortunates of every nation in 
darkness that knows no light, while high above 
the scene of desolation the rays of light will 
beam forth from the radiant face of the Son 
of Righteousness, and the nations of them 
which are saved shall walk in the light, while 
Christ, who died to save the world, will lead 
them to mingle their voices forever with that 
great multitude which no man could number. 



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